Gabriel Martinelli has spoken out for the first time after being yellow carded for his behaviour towards an injured Conor Bradley on Thursday night.
Martinelli came on as a second half substitute for Arsenal in the 0-0 draw against Liverpool as the Premier League leaders pushed for a winning goal.
But the Brazilian ended up courting huge controversy for his stoppage time antics when Bradley suffered a serious injury.
The Northern Ireland international fell to the turf in agony when attempting to clear a loose ball, immediately holding his knee.
Advert
Martinelli appeared to fell as though Bradley was time-wasting and after lightly dropping the ball on him, pushed him off the pitch in attempt to resume the game.
That resulted in a skirmish involving several Liverpool players, who were furious with what Martinelli did and shoved him away.
On commentary for Sky Sports, Manchester United legend Gary Neville branded Martinelli's conduct "disgraceful" and called the forward an "idiot".
Advert
He also said he was surprised none of the Liverpool players reacted with further anger and "go over and absolutely whack" Martinelli.
Fellow former captain Roy Keane, who was involved in a similar situation as Bradley, agreed that the behaviour on show was "an absolute disgrace".
- If you want to see even more from SPORTbible, make us a preferred source on Google.
Bradley was stretchered off with his hand over his face and replaced by Joe Gomez for the final moments of the game at the Emirates Stadium.
Advert
Martinelli later put out a statement on his official Instagram, confirming he had spoken to Bradley - issuing an apology and wishing for a speedy recovery for the Liverpool defender.
He wrote: "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."
Advert
Arne Slot was asked about the injury after the game and Martinelli's actions - refusing to criticise the 24-year-old and claiming that he was unaware of the extent of the injury.
"I am 100% sure that if he knew what the injury might be, then he would never do that," Slot said, as per the BBC.
"But it doesn't look great if he has the injury which we fear he might have.
"But time-wasting, diving... I have seen it happen against us so many times this season that I can understand that Martinelli might have thought that this is time-wasting as well."
Advert
Arsenal are six points clear of both Manchester City and Aston Villa at the top of the league after the stalemate.
Topics: Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal, Liverpool, Premier League
Josh Lawless