A Liverpool player’s father appeared to send a message towards Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli after the Brazilian threw the ball at Conor Bradley while he was lying injured on the floor, before then pushing him off the pitch.
Arsenal went six points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League with a 0-0 draw against Liverpoolat the Emirates on Thursday (January 8).
Despite the on-pitch action failing to live up to the hype of such a prestigious fixture, the match was somewhat overshadowed by an incident involving right-back Bradley and winger Martinelli.
As the fixture neared its conclusion, Bradley cleared a loose ball before falling to the ground and holding his knee while wincing in pain.
And instead of checking if his opponent was okay, Martinelli wanted to get on with the game and first dropped the ball on the Northern Irishman while the medics rushed onto the pitch.
The Brazilian then tried to push the full-back of the pitch, which provoked an angry reaction from several of Bradley’s Liverpool teammates.
Sky Sports commentator Gary Nevillebranded Martinelli an “idiot” before saying he didn’t know how the away team’s players didn’t go over and “whack” the Arsenal star for his actions.
Bradley was stretchered off and was later pictured on crutches after the match.
Several fans took to social media to offer their thoughts on the unsavoury incident with Liverpool left-back Milos Kerkez’s father, Sebastijan, not holding back on Instagram.
Screenshots posted online appeared to show that Sebastijan posted a now-deleted story with the caption (translated from Bosnian to English): “Where I’m from, these things are handled a lil different, Someone teach a little basic culture before I have to.”
Meanwhile, Martinelli also took to social media after the game and issued an apology for his actions, claiming he didn’t realise Bradley was injured.
“Conor and I have messaged, and I’ve already apologised to him,” the Arsenal winger wrote.
“I really didn’t understand he was injured in the heat of the moment.
“I want to say I’m deeply sorry for reacting. Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery.”
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot also spoke out about the incident and suggested that the “problem” may have been caused by players previously “pretending that they are injured” as a way of wasting time.
Liverpool return to action at home against Barnsley in the FA Cup third round on Monday (January 12), with Arsenal in action away against Portsmouth on Sunday (January 11).