Gabriel Martinelli - what a player. The Brazilian was at his scintillating best on Sunday afternoon as he scored one goal and set up another in only Arsenal's second win over Liverpool in the top flight since 2015.
Martinelli tore away to score the opener in just 57 seconds at the Emirates Stadium, setting the tone for a pulsating clash between the two sides. While Darwin Nunez equalised, Martinelli then turned provider to hit Liverpool with a sucker punch right on half-time, playing the ball across goal for Bukayo Saka to tap home.
Roberto Firmino came off the bench to equalise again, but after Gabriel Jesus was fouled in the box, Saka scored a late penalty to win all three points. The result means Arsenal have lost just once this season and moved back to the top of the Premier League table, a point ahead of Manchester City.
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Saka may have scored twice, but it was Martinelli who terrorised the Liverpool defence, running them ragged, particularly in the first half. He was rightly given the man of the match award by Gary Neville on co-commentary on Sky Sports.
And the key for the man of the match award was the number of substitutions Jurge Klopp had to make. Speaking about the game, Neville said: "Martinelli for me. Goals, assists, Trent Alexander-Arnold taken off, Mohamed Salah taken off, [Joe] Gomez struggled against him second half. Quite an easy decision."
Klopp knew about Martinelli's talent all too well. Speaking three years ago, the Liverpool boss said: "Martinelli’s pretty much the same age [as Liverpool defender Sepp Van De Berg] but he’s a talent of the century, he’s an incredible striker, so it’s really difficult. It was not in this game only. I watch a lot of football, so I saw the Europa League games of Arsenal.
"He’s 18 years old, right? So our scouting department is all over the world and stuff like this, but I think Edu gets all the credit for that signing – he came from…wherever. He’s really unbelievable.
"So young, looks so mature already, is a proper threat. Yeah, he looks like a really decent player. I didn’t want to put any backpack [pressure] on his back with this thing [his earlier remarks] but I just really like good football players and obviously he’s a very good one."
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