Referee Stuart Attwell Accused Of 'Blocking' Martinelli Before He Missed Sitter vs Man City, Footage Is Damning

Arsenal fans believe referee Stuart Attwell played a big part in Gabriel Martinelli missing an absolute sitter against Manchester City.

The Gunners slipped to a 2-1 defeat against City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon in a thrilling contest.

Martinelli had the chance to put Arsenal back in front after Riyad Mahrez's penalty had cancelled out Bukayo Saka's opener, but put it wide.

At first glance it's a poor miss from the 20-year-old. A new camera angle has emerged however and shown Martinelli was actually impeded.

how can the ref set a screen on Martinelli before his missed chance??? pic.twitter.com/qhD35YDECL

— Sai Descoteaux (@knickthoughts) January 1, 2022

Attwell can be seen arriving in the box ahead of Martinelli, before backing up as he's about to take the shot, forcing the Brazilian to manoeuvre his body.

The incident occurred after a mix-up between Aymeric Laporte and goalkeeper Ederson saw Laporte head the ball back towards his own goal.

Nathan Ake managed to clear off the line to keep Pep Guardiola's side level.

Minutes later, Gabriel received a second booking for cleaning out Gabriel Jesus.

It was those key incidents that allowed Rodri to convert a 92nd minute winner to see City go 11 points clear at the top.

Fans have reacted to Martinelli being 'blocked' and they think it could've cost Arsenal the game.

One commented: "Let’s blame Martinelli’s miss when the referee LITERALLY blocks him."

Another added: "Why is the referee moving into the box like prime Lampard? Martinelli should've scored anyway, but if the referee wasn't there he has a much much better chance."

While a third put: "The referee literally screened Martinelli off the ball which caused him to miss the open goal."

The first half saw Arsenal denied a penalty after Martin Odegaard went down under a tackle from Ederson.

Ehm... turns out I was wrong after all: Odegaard shouldn’t have had a penalty in the first half. He STEPPED on Ederson’s foot.

Fair play to the ref and VAR 👏 pic.twitter.com/mnWybIr4Eb

— Real Talk Manchester City (@RealTalkMCFC) January 1, 2022

VAR did review the challenge but were happy with the referee's initial decision of no penalty.

Arsenal were the better side for large portions of the game and City boss Guardiola admitted his men were below par post-match.

"Arsenal were better,” he told BT Sport. “They have six days after beating Norwich, we have two days. It was so tough for us to come back.

"We had no energy. That is why we put one more player in the middle to get more control and passes.

“We know in transitions and the physicality they have it can be difficult. And it was difficult."