Gary Neville likened Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli to Gunners legend Robert Pires during the Brazilian's stellar showing against Liverpool at the Emirates on Wednesday night.
While Martinelli failed to inspire Arsenal to victory against Jurgen Klopp's side, it was not for the want of trying as the 20-year-old winger gave Trent Alexander-Arnold a torrid time all evening down the Gunners left flank. Martinelli got the crowd out of their seats early with what is quickly becoming a trademark run to the byline before firing a fierce pass across the face of Alisson's goal.
Goals from Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino turned the tie on its head after the first 55 minutes saw the hosts probably enjoy the better passages of play but failing to show the kind of killer instinct that has made Liverpool so lethal in recent years. The two strikes seemingly stole the wind out of the sails of pretty much every Arsenal player, bar one.
Martinelli continued to battle for every ball like it was his last, sprinting towards Alexander-Arnold at break-neck speed every time he received a cross-field pass from one of Thomas Partey or Granit Xhaka. His finest moment of the night came while the scores were still level at 0-0.
Receiving the ball with his boots picking up chalk on the side-line, Martinelli somehow squirmed beyond both Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson courtesy of some delicate footwork mixed with sheer will and desire. His eventual pass across the six-yard box was inviting but Arsenal's other attackers were not on the Brazilian's wavelength.
In response to the mazy run, Neville compared Martinelli to another fan-favourite in the red-half of North London. “He’s got Alexander-Arnold on toast," Neville claimed on Sky Sports. "It’s absolutely outstanding from Martinelli. He’s got a bit of the Pires about him. That run was Pires-like."
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Martinelli was Arsenal's safest bet when it came to reaching Liverpool's goal all evening, completing all three of his take-on attempts as well as having six touches in the opposition box and four passes into the Reds penalty area.
Few footballing figures have given Martinelli more praise than Reds boss Klopp, who once dubbed the winger as the "talent of the century." The Liverpool manager praised Alexander-Arnold for being able to keep up with Arsenal's talented youngster.
"Martinelli is such a talented boy. It’s really tricky," he told reporters after the game. "If anyone says Trent can’t defend, they should come to me and I’ll knock them down. I cannot hear that anymore, I don’t know what the boy has to do."
