Dominik Szoboszlai did his bit to stick up for Conor Bradley after the Liverpool right-back, whilst lying injured on the Emirates Stadium turf, was shoved by Gabriel Martinelli.
Genuine goalscoring chances were at a premium in the Reds’ 0-0 draw against Arsenal, although the Northern Ireland international came the closest of anyone to scoring when he struck the crossbar in the first half after chipping David Raya.
The visitors had a claim for a penalty turned down early in the second half when Leandro Trossard barged into Florian Wirtz, but the officials didn’t see enough of a foul for a spot kick to be awarded.
Szoboszlai angered by Martinelli shove on Bradley
There was another flashpoint in stoppage time when Bradley pulled up by the touchline and, despite being in visible distress, was shoved over the line by Martinelli as the Brazilian forward sought to get the match restarted so that the Liverpool man could get treatment off the pitch.
Szoboszlai was tending to his stricken teammate at that moment and took exception to the Arsenal player’s push by shoving him back, with the Hungarian rightly angered by the 24-year-old’s lack of respect for a fellow professional.
In the kerfuffle which followed, Martinelli and Ibrahima Konate were booked by referee Anthony Taylor.
Szoboszlai right to be annoyed by ‘disgraceful’ Martinelli conduct
Considering the forwards that Liverpool were missing, and the Gunners’ form coming into this match, the Reds can feel quite satisfied with their overall performance (especially in the second half) and with the extension of their unbeaten run to 10 games.
However, our night ended on a sour note with the injury to Bradley, who’s already had a couple of spells in the treatment room this season, and everyone of an LFC persuasion will be praying that the Northern Ireland international isn’t as badly hurt as what it seemed at first.
On commentary for Sky Sports, Gary Neville was justifiably disgusted with Martinelli’s actions, labelling them ‘disgraceful’, and Roy Keane was similarly enraged by the conduct of the Arsenal player,
Liverpool fans will have loved seeing Szoboszlai exact some retribution and not accept that sort of behaviour towards a teammate. It was needless and petunant from the Gunners foward.
The most important thing is that hopefully Bradley isn’t seriously injured – let’s pray for good news on the 22-year-old in the coming days.
You can view the incident below, taken from Fubo Sports’ match coverage and shared via @Trend584561 on X:
— Trend (@Trend584561) January 8, 2026
Not only did he try and push him over the touchline which is a yellow card for me he threw the ball at him beforehand what a cowardly and malicious attack should have been sent off what a piece of garbage he is
Arne slot said some nice words on martinelli. In the heat of the moment doesn’t mean he can react violently towards an injured player…