Mikel Arteta Picked Up Gabriel Martinelli For Going Down Injured Off The Pitch, Put Him Back On

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta couldn't believe his eyes when Gabriel Martinelli went down off the pitch vs West Ham United.

Martinelli impressed on Wednesday night and opening the scoring as Arsenal ran out comfortable 2- winners.

The 20-year-old produced a lovely, left-footed finish to beat Lukasz Fabianski and was a menace all evening.

He went down injured in the second half while off the pitch, with it catching Arteta's eye immediately.

Instead of consoling the Brazilian, Arteta picked him up and ordered him back on the pitch to get treatment.

It mean play would be stopped for longer and give the Gunners more chance of holding their 2-0 lead.

Almost have to respect the dedication to s**thousery in a way.

Martinelli was replaced by Eddie Nketiah not long after so Arteta does have a heart after all.

Emile Smith Rowe also got on the scoresheet as Arsenal climbed into the top four with their fifth home league win in a row.

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West Ham were down to ten men in the second half after Vladimir Coufal received two yellow cards, the second leading to a penalty.

Captain Alexandre Lacazette had his spot kick saved by Fabianski however.

Arsenal were rock bottom of the Premier League after three humiliating defeats on the bounce to start the season.

Arteta has now called on his side to show consistency and mount a serious top four challenge.

He said post-match per Daily Mail: "It was a big game for us having the capacity to go fourth and it was a statement. It [the position] is much better than we were and we want to be higher.

"We want to find consistency. This league is absolutely ruthless and whatever you do today, tomorrow is different.

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"We needed a big performance and I think we did it. They were fully focused and wanted to show how strong we are as a team. The commitment and attitude they showed was what we wanted.

"We knew we had to play well today to beat West Ham and we did."

Arsenal return to action against Leeds United on Saturday.

Topics: Football, Premier League, West Ham United, Arsenal, Mikel Arteta

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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