OFCOM received a whopping 576 complaints following Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool that was marred by Gabriel Martinelli’s moment of madness.
The Brazilian was slammed by pundits and fans for pushing an injured Conor Bradley off the pitch and throwing the ball at him in the final minutes of the match.
Martinelli, 24, was lambasted by Sky pundit Gary Neville, who described his push on the full-back as “disgraceful”.
The Arsenal ace has since apologised to Bradley both publicly and privately, explaining that he wasn’t aware that the Northern Irishman was seriously injured.
Liverpool announced last week that Bradley will miss the remainder of the season with the knee issue.
The incredible 576 complaints are way above the average number of complaints Ofcom receives for shows.
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Gabriel Martinelli was shown a yellow card by referee Anthony Taylor for his push, but avoided any retrospective punishment.
Neville made it clear that he felt the winger deserved to have the book thrown at him with his on-air comments during commentary.
He said: “You can’t push him off the pitch. You cannot do that. That is so poor. I think an apology is needed.
“Bradley is being stretchered off. I’m fuming with Martinelli to be honest. Disgraceful.
I’m surprised a Liverpool player hasn’t gone over and whacked Martinelli there!
Gary Neville,
“I’m surprised a Liverpool player hasn’t gone over and whacked Martinelli there!”
However, Liverpool manager Arne Slot was more understanding of the circumstances, defending Martinelli’s actions.
He said: “I am 100 per cent sure that if he knew what the injury might be that he would never do that.
“But it doesn’t look great if he has the injury that we fear he might have. We fear the worst for Conor.
“But football, time wasting, diving has come to the situation that players think in the 94th minute that is probably happening again.”
Martinelli – who netted an FA Cup hat-trick against Portsmouth at the weekend – shared his public apology to Instagram after the Liverpool game.
It read: “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.”
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