'Lacked respect' - Gabriel Agbonlahor angrily hits out at 'unsportsmanlike' Gabriel Martinelli for celebrating early

Gabriel Martinelli has been accused of 'lacking respect' after celebrating his goal against Aston Villa early in Arsenal's big win on Saturday.

Arsenal came from behind twice to earn three points at Villa Park as they beat Unai Emery's team 4-2 in a thrilling Premier League clash.

After the visitors leveled, Jorginho struck a shot from distance that rebounded off the crossbar to hit Emiliano Martinez on the head and divert into the goal in the 93rd minute.

Martinelli then secured the points before the final whistle as he tapped home into an empty net after Martinez went up for a corner-kick.

Gabriel Martinelli celebrates his goal against Aston Villa early. Image: BT Sport

But moments before striking the ball, the Brazilian raised his arms in celebration before actually scoring Arsenal's fourth goal against Villa.

His decision to celebrate early didn't go down well with Gabriel Agbonlahor, who furiously hit out at the forward, claiming he 'lacked respect' while saying the gesture wasn't 'sportsmanlike'.

The ex-Villa forward told talkSPORT: "I thought it was an entertaining game, they’re the games you want to see.

"Both teams going for it, no one sitting back, Aston Villa had so many chances as well, Leon Bailey running through and hitting the bar.

"But I thought Arsenal were impressive in the second half, they didn’t turn up in the first half, but in the second half they were relentless."

He added: "[Bukayo] Saka getting at players, [Granit] Xhaka and [Martin] Odegaard finding space, and Arsenal thoroughly deserved the win.

"But, there was a part of the game I didn’t like. I didn’t like Martinelli running through, empty net, and he’s just celebrating before he’s put the ball into the back of the net.

"You know he’s been rubbish for a month, and he’s scoring a tap-in and celebrating before he scores.

"[It’s a] lack of respect for your team-mates, I didn’t like it."

When Jamie O'Hara asked Agbonlahor about Martinez's time-wasting, he replied: "I didn’t like that either!

"I didn’t see no point in Martinez wasting time because it gets added onto the end of the game.

"But that from Martinelli for me today wasn’t very sportsmanlike."

Topics: Arsenal, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gabriel Martinelli, Football

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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