Gabriel Martinelli made another big impression in front of his number one fan Jurgen Klopp.
The Brazilian winger was Arsenal's silver lining at the Emirates as they lost 2-0 to the Reds with goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino sealing a vital three points to boost their title hopes. Martinelli has been a revelation this season but he had one of his toughest tests yet up against Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The forward passed it with flying colours, however, as he caused the Liverpool right-back all sorts of problems. His pace was difficult for Alexander-Arnold to deal with, especially in the first half and the Reds' impact at the other end of the pitch was curtailed as a result.
The defender had to respect Martinelli's speed and couldn't make his usual attacking runs in case he was caught out by an Arsenal counter. Arsenal fans noticed Martinelli was getting plenty of joy from Alexander-Arnold and relishing the fact their youngster was not out of place against one of the world's best at his position.
There was one moment in the first second half that the youngster skipped by the England international before nutmegging Jordan Henderson as he almost set up a teammate in the box. Martinelli was approached by compatriots Allison and Fabinho at the end as the Liverpool duo were clearly impressed by his performance.
So was Klopp who called him "such a talented boy" in his post-match interview. And that's not the first time the German has waxed lyrical about Martinelli.
The first time Klopp came up against Martinelli in a match, in October 2019, he described him as a “talent of the century”. After watching the young forward tear apart Sepp van den Berg and Joe Gomez, he said: “[Van den Berg] played an incredible game. That’s really difficult to deal with these guys.
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"Martinelli's pretty much the same age but he's a talent of the century. He's an incredible striker, so it's really difficult."
A few days later, he added that the winger is "really unbelievable" and applauded Edu, Arsenal's technical director, for plucking him from Brazil. In his answer, his thoughts turned back to Martinelli. "Little Martinelli," he said. "We will talk about this player in the future. If he will be without major injuries he will have a proper career."
Klopp then piled more praise on the rising star after in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. "Martinelli by the way…everybody should remember that name. Outstanding player," Klopp said after he was asked about facing Chelsea in the final.
Martinelli was flattered by Klopp's comments, telling Marca: "I feel very proud that one of the best tacticians in the world speaks well of me. Now I have to remain firm, focused and continue working to achieve greater things."
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