Gabriel Martinelli looks set to avoid a further punishment despite being accused of displaying ‘total disrespect’ after shoving referee Sam Barrott during Arsenal’s FA Cup defeat at Southampton.
The Gunners’ saw another shot at ending their six-year trophy drought evaporate on the south coast after Shea Charles’ late strike earned the Championship side a deserved win and a day out at Wembley where they will face Chelsea in the semi-finals.
Mikel Arteta’s side looked like they had gained control of the tie when substitute Viktor Gyokeres equalised midway through the second half but were left chasing the game in the closing stages after another uncharacteristic defensive lapse.
As their desperate search for another goal that would have taken the contest to extra time intensified, frustration boiled over in Martinelli’s case.
The Brazil international forward was determined to take a quick free kick and in attempting to do so, put his hands on Barrott and gave him a gentle shove.
Martinelli received a yellow card for his offence but former Premier League referee Mark Halsey felt he got off extremely lightly.
‘Referee Sam Barrott awarded a free-kick to Arsenal, Martinelli comes rushing in and he pushes Sam out of the way,’ he told The Sun.
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‘Now I’m sorry, Gabriel Martinelli showed total disrespect for the match official Sam Barrott in that situation.
‘Although Sam issued a yellow card, for me it’s a red card. You just cannot put your hands on a referee, let alone push him out of the way.
‘You’ve got to look around the country, up and down, Saturday and Sundays where we have local park referees going out and doing their games.
‘What message does that send out to our local park referees?
‘I thought Sam had a good game, he refereed the game well, but I think he let the refereeing community down by not sending off Gabriel Martinelli for pushing him at the award of a free-kick, so he could take the free-kick quickly.’
Despite Halsey’s ire, the Football Association are set to take a more lenient view and, according to The Athletic, are unlikely to sanction Martinelli given Barrott deemed the offence only worthy of a yellow card at the time.
It is the second time this season that the 24-year-old has found himself on the receiving end of a backlash for what could generously be described as ungentlemanly conduct.
Back in January Liverpool players were furious when the Arsenal winger attempted to shove Conor Bradley off the pitch so he could restart the game, seemingly unaware his opponent had suffered a serious knee injury that effectively ended his season.
‘You can’t push him off the pitch,’ an enraged Gary Neville said at the time. ‘You cannot do that. You idiot. That is so poor.
‘I am surprised one of the Liverpool players have not gone over and had a right pop at him. I think an apology is needed.
‘He’s thrown the ball at him as well. That is no good. I am actually fuming with Martinelli. I don’t know how the Liverpool players didn’t go over and absolutely whack him to be honest with you and take a red card. Absolutely disgraceful, that.’
Martinelli wrote on Instagram: ‘Conor and I have messaged and I have 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 the best again for a quick recovery.’
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