Christian Norgaard’s “nasty” tackle, which Gabriel Martinelli has criticized, “could have broken my leg.” The Brentford midfielder narrowly avoided a red card during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at the Emirates.
At the Emirates Stadium, Brentford captain Norgaard lunged at Martinelli in the first half, infuriating the home crowd and prompting an outburst from Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
Norgaard was given a yellow card by referee Simon Hooper, and VAR refused to increase the penalty, which infuriated Arsenal’s players and coaching staff.
Martinelli did not mince words when he spoke to Sky Sports following the game.
“I didn’t see that again, but he could break my leg if my foot was on the floor,” the Brazilian remarked.
According to Norgaard, he didn’t mean it. He may have broken my leg even if I believe him. It was crimson to me. To be sure, I need to view it again. However, it was unpleasant to me.
When questioned about his feelings regarding the tackle, Arteta merely said, “My reaction says everything.”
At the time of the event, the manager of Arsenal had argued violently with the Brentford bench and the fourth official.
However, Brentford manager Thomas Frank said, “That’s his opinion,” dismissing the notion that the tackle called for a red card. It seemed like a bright yellow to me.
Jamie Redknapp, a Sky Sports analyst, acknowledged that the tackle was risky and similar to one that had previously required surgery, but he didn’t think it was enough to send him out.
“It’s not a great tackle and it can hurt players, but you don’t see a red card for this very often,” Redknapp remarked.
Someone making the exact same tackle on me caused me to get a serious injury because you could get your leg caught and twist your knee.
It is an unpleasant tackle. A traditional tackle. While several tackles have been eliminated from the game, this one hasn’t yet resulted in a red card.
He isn’t a bad player. I don’t think it qualifies as a nasty tackle or a red card. However, Martinelli is fortunate because injuries like that might last six months.
With Yoane Wissa’s equalizer in the second half negating Thomas Partey’s opening goal and leaving Arsenal 10 points behind leaders Liverpool in the Premier League title race, the drama overshadowed what was otherwise a very boring London derby.
Ahead of the second leg in Spain next week, Arteta benched players like Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, making five changes to the team that crushed Real Madrid 3-0 in the middle of the week.
Saka’s late attempt that missed the mark was the closest the Gunners got to stealing as the rotating team failed to generate clear opportunities.
