CONOR BRADLEY left the Emirates on crutches after his horror injury sparked “disgraceful” antics from Gabriel Martinelli.
Liverpool star Bradley went down in pain late on in his side’s 0-0 draw against Arsenal on Thursday.
The right-back looked in agony as he collapsed to the ground after appearing to slip.
But Bradley’s injury prompted a bizarre response from Arsenal opponent Martinelli, who angrily tried shoving the right-back off the pitch.
It sparked a huge melee as tempers spilled over between the two sides.
And Martinelli’s actions came back to haunt him as Bradley was eventually stretchered off the field.
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Now, Arne Slot’s side could be without the Northern Irishman for some time.
Exclusive video from SunSport at the Emirates showed Bradley leaving the stadium on crutches.
The defender moved gingerly as he limped his way to Liverpool’s team bus.
And the Reds will be sweating over his fitness amid an injury crisis that saw both Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike miss Thursday’s match.
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Martinelli’s behaviour towards Bradley prompted a major backlash from pundits, with Gary Neville leading the charge on comms for Sky Sports.
He said: “You can’t push him off the pitch. You cannot do that. That is so poor, I think an apology is needed.
“Bradley is being stretchered off. I’m fuming with Martinelli to be honest. Disgraceful.
“I’m surprised a Liverpool player hasn’t gone over and whacked Martinelli there.”
Neville’s sentiments were echoed by former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane.
The Irishman raged: “I didn’t like it at all. It happened to me once. I was badly injured and a player stood over me. It’s not good. We know football, the player is a good lad.
“Throwing the ball at him, standing over him and getting a little knee on him. He tries to force him off.
“That behaviour is an absolute disgrace. He’s a good boy to roll over himself. Hopefully, Martinelli will have a look at it and hopefully, he’ll apologise for it. Not good stuff that.”
Former Liverpool ace Daniel Sturridge agreed, adding: “It’s disappointing to see.
“There’s passion and there’s being a winner, there’s wanting to help your team-mates, but you’ve got to be respectful as a footballer.
“Injuries are never a nice feeling. Martinelli is thinking time wasting but you’ve got to be self aware enough to see the guy is down. You’ve been there before.
“It’s disrespectful. It’s probably worse than disrespectful.”
However, Liverpool boss Arne Slot refused to condemn Martinelli’s action.
He explained: “I don’t know Gabriel Martinelli but he comes across as a nice guy.
“The problem for him, and it’s a problem in general in football, is that there is so much time-wasting in the final parts of games that sometimes you can be annoyed when you want to score a goal and you feel a player is pretending to be injured.
“I’m 100 per cent sure if he knew what the injury might be, he wouldn’t do that.”
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta agreed, noting: “Probably he doesn’t know because knowing Gabi, there is zero intention.
“I don’t know what happened to Conor, but hopefully it’s not bad, but obviously, there is no intention from Gabi to do anything bad to him.”
Martinelli posted on Instagram a couple of hours after full-time: “Conor and I have messaged and I’ve already apologised to him.
“I really didn’t understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment.
“I want to say I’m deeply sorry for reacting. Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery.”
Arsenal player ratings vs Liverpool
ARSENAL failed to take full advantage of Man City’s slip-up as they could only draw 0-0 with Liverpool.
Despite this, the result extended the Gunners’ lead at the top of the table to six points.
Here’s how the players rated…
David Raya – 6
Caught up in some miscommunication with William Saliba, which almost gifted Liverpool the lead.
Enjoyed a quiet night other than that as Liverpool failed to have a single shot on target.
Jurrien Timber – 6
Got in behind Liverpool’s defence a few times during the first half and linked up nicely with Bukayo Saka.
The final ball was lacking, though, and he could not make Liverpool pay.
William Saliba – 6
Almost gifted Liverpool the lead after a rare error mix up with David Raya midway through the first half.
The Frenchman’s pass back to Raya was heavy and the Gunners were very nearly punished, but Conor Bradley hit the crossbar.
Gabriel – 7
Dealt well with Wirtz, who was having to fill in as a No9 due to Liverpool’s injury issues.
Dominant in the air and made a couple of big blocks when needed.
Piero Hincapie – 6
Steady stuff from the Ecuadorian, who tried to get forward on the overlap when he could.
Struck down by injury before the hour mark, though, and was forced to come off. Arsenal’s defensive injury woes continue.
Martin Odegaard – 5
The Norwegian has been excellent recently, but he could not get going tonight.
The odd nice touch and pass, however he could not open up Liverpool’s deep defence. Frustrating.
Martin Zubimendi – 7
Snapped into tackles early on as he tried to set the tone.
One of the better players, especially in the opening 45 minutes, when he misplaced just three of his 36 passes.
Declan Rice – 6
Involved in a flare-up with Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk during what was otherwise a quiet first half.
He was Arsenal’s hero at the weekend during the win over Bournemouth, but failed to boss this game.
Bukayo Saka – 6
Back in the starting XI after coming off the bench during last Saturday’s win at Bournemouth.
Arsenal’s brightest spark going forward, but that was not hard. Troubled Milos Kerkez with the odd mazy run.
Viktor Gyokeres – 4
Managed just eight touches during his 64 minutes on the pitch. That is the Swede’s lowest amount in an Arsenal game when he has played at least 20 minutes.
Just not in the game at all and looks so low on confidence.
Leandro Trossard – 5
Returned to the team after being a second-half substitute at Bournemouth and went close with one effort in the first half.
Had his heart in his mouth when VAR checked if he had given away a penalty for a tackle on Florian Wirtz, but survived.
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Myles Lewis-Skelly (Hincapie 57’) – 5
On earlier than expected after Hincapie was forced to come off. Struggled to deal with the pace of Jeremie Frimpong and was caught out a few times.
Gabriel Martinelli (Trossard 64’) – 5
His performance was summed up by a moment where he skinned two Liverpool players, and then fluffed his lines. Caught up in handbags late on when tempers flared after Bradley injured his knee.
Gabriel Jesus (Gyokeres 64’) – 6
Looked sharper than Gyokeres and brought a bit of a spark to Arsenal’s attack. Drew a save from Alisson with a late header. Surely he gets the nod for the next Prem game?
Noni Madueke (Saka 78’) – N/A
Eberechi Eze (Odegaard 78’) – N/A
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