Gabriel Martinelli asked to be kept in the Arsenal team after his Europa League penalty miss, with Mikel Arteta prepared to give him a break.
- Brazilian failed from 12 yards versus Sporting
- Admits to feeling ‘sad’ about costly miss
- Was back among the goals against Palace
WHAT HAPPENED? The Brazil international forward was the only man to miss from the spot in a last-16 shootout with Sporting at Emirates Stadium, with his failure from 12 yards resulting in the Gunners crashing out of continental competition. Martinelli could, at 21 years of age, have been forgiven for wanting to remove himself from the spotlight for a few days as he recovered from a costly mistake, but he made it clear that he wanted to be included from the off in a London derby date with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
WHAT THEY SAID: Arteta told BBC Sport after seeing Martinelli open the scoring in a 4-1 victory over the Eagles: “The reaction he had after missing a penalty. There is always the question, but I asked him yesterday how he was and he said: ‘I want to be in the team’.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Martinelli admits that he felt “sad” for a bit after failing to help Arsenal through in Europe, but is happy to have extended a productive run in the Premier League that has seen him net six times in as many games. He said of bouncing back from personal disappointment: “It is life. Not every game you are going to score and play well. Of course I was sad and spent the whole night thinking about that penalty but it is over. I scored a goal today and we got the three points, the most important thing.”
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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WHAT NEXT? While Martinelli caught the eye against Palace, Bukayo Saka was once again the star of the show – with the England international grabbing two goals and an assist to see him post personal-best returns in terms of collective strikes in any given season and efforts across a single Premier League campaign.
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