Jurgen Klopp’s four-word Arsenal warning that left Pep Guardiola with egg on his face

Gabriel Martinelli salvaged a precious point for Arsenal against Manchester City on Sunday, and Jurgen Klopp has always had faith in the young Brazilian

Jurgen Klopp once dubbed Gabriel Martinelli the “talent of the century”, and the young Brazilian proved the ex-Liverpool manager may have a point with his performance against Manchester City. Martinelli scored a 93rd-minute equaliser against Pep Guardiola’s side, after Erling Haaland opened the scoring for City in the ninth minute.

It looked like City were on their way to another big win over the Gunners on Sunday afternoon as they led for the majority of the match. Arsenal had the bulk of possession, as well as the most shots and corners, but this all looked like it would be futile in the end.

However, Martinelli was subbed on in the 80th minute and lifted the ball over ‘keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the dying seconds to winger’s promise, as his late goal left Guardiola looking foolish with his defensive substitutes in the last 15 minutes of the game.

After a 5-5 League Cup draw between Liverpool and Arsenal in 2019 – which the Reds eventually won on penalties – Klopp made the point of bringing up Martinelli’s sheer talent at such a young age. Speaking of the then-18-year-old, the German said: “Martinelli’s pretty much the same age (as my young team) but he’s a talent of the century, he’s an incredible striker, so it’s really difficult.

“He’s really unbelievable. So young, looks so mature already, is a proper threat. Yeah, he looks like a really decent player. I didn’t want to put any backpack [pressure] on his back with this thing but I just really like good football players and obviously he’s a very good one.”

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Since then, the Brazilian winger has scored 53 goals and assisted 30 times in 230 appearances for the Gunners, winning an FA Cup and Community Shield. Internationally, the forward has an Olympic gold medal with Brazil, which was secured in 2021 when he was just 19 years old.

Martinelli has fallen down the pecking order slightly at the Emirates Stadium in recent times, with the likes of Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard and Noni Madueke being selected on the wings over him.

But it was the substitution’s deft strike against Donnarumma that secured the draw for the Gunners, keeping them in the early title battle with Liverpool this season.

Boss Arteta was full of praise for the 24-year-old. He said: “We had very good momentum and we needed to time that well.

“He’s in a really good moment again after the game he had in Bilbao and that period of time probably he deserved more, but his energy again, his attitude was really good and that’s why he made the impact that he made again for the team.”

Reflecting on Martinelli’s impact after just 13 minutes of action, Arteta added: “We want consistency on that, for every player that doesn’t start the game to be able to do that, because you see how long the match is and the level that it requires to beat them, and we’re very happy with him.”

Next up for the Gunners is a Carabao Cup third round trip to League One side Port Vale on Wednesday, before an away Premier League match against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle next weekend. Ninth-placed City will be ruing their missed opportunities at the Emirates, but all focus will now be on a cup trip to League One stars Huddersfield.

Then, Guardiola’s side will welcome Burnley to the Eithad Stadium as they aim to climb into the top half of the league table before the next international break in October.

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