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DANIEL MATTHEWS: The exciting Gabriel Martinelli proved once again to be the crucial threat to Arsenal, accounting for one goal, one assist and two Liverpool right-backs
- Gabriel Martinelli put Arsenal ahead after just 58 seconds against Liverpool
- The attacker set up Bukayo Saka just before half-time for Arsenal’s second goal
- Defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez were beaten up by Martinelli
- Saka sealed a thrilling 3-2 victory by scoring from the spot in the 76th minute
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In the hours leading up to this fight, there seemed to be only one decision for Mikel Arteta to think about. It came to left back: Oleksandr Zinchenko or Kieran Tierney?
It was a choice that would indicate all about Arsenal’s intent: after all the progress and positive signals, would they stick or twist?
Tierney could provide more defensive solidity against Mohamed Salah, Zinchenko provides more control and attacking threat.
Arsenal started perfectly when Gabriel Martinelli gave them the lead after 58 seconds
In the end Zinchenko got injured, but Arteta came up with a surprise: he flopped in front of Takehiro Tomiyasu. In the end it didn’t matter.
Instead, Arsenal’s hopes soon hung for events further up their left wing. There are no such selection dilemmas.
Gabriel Martinelli has started all Arsenal matches this season. The 21-year-old is now undeniably one of their key players.
Certainly here, unlike Tottenham, he proved Arteta’s main threat.
By the end of another exciting display of skill, pace and intelligent movement behind a confused four in the back, Martinelli had scored one goal, one assist and two right-backs.
Liverpool defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez were run in rags by Martinelli
Trent Alexander-Arnold came out at halftime after a scorching 45 minutes that started and ended, with Martinelli proving Liverpool’s demise.
At the final whistle, his replacement Joe Gomez was also dizzy and exhausted.
This match was eventually won by Bukayo Saka. No one, meanwhile, has received more appreciation for Arsenal’s flying start than Gabriel Jesus.
There can be little doubt that Jesus has changed Arsenal’s attack. Or that Martinelli took advantage of his arrival.
But the 21-year-old has the quality to wreak havoc on his own. Just ask Liverpool.
Bukayo Saka sealed a thrilling 3-2 victory by scoring from the spot in the 76th minute
The visitors can’t say they weren’t warned: three years have passed since Jurgen Klopp suggested that Martinelli could be a ‘talent of the century’.
Before this match, the Liverpool boss confirmed: “He has become exactly the player I expected.”
And yet it took just 58 seconds for Martinelli to draw first blood and race behind Alexander-Arnold to put Arsenal up front.
Later, during first-half stoppage time, the Brazilian headed for the Liverpool penalty area, sold both Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson with a delightful dummy and secured the finish for Saka.
In the intervening 45 minutes, as Liverpool strangled Arsenal, his counterattack threat proved invaluable: even as Arsenal struggled for possession, Martinelli scored 26 goals, more than all but two team-mates (both defenders). Little changed after the break: twice he almost scored, once he outsmarted Joel Matip to feed Martin Odegaard.
Not that Klopp would have been surprised.