Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli accused of 'lacking respect' after celebrating before his goal again

Former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor has hit out at Gabriel Martinelli following Arsenal's 4-2 win after he celebrated before his 98th minute goal.

The Brazilian winger was dropped for the clash at Villa Park having failed to chip in with a goal or an assist since New Year's Eve.

But he had a huge impact off the bench, as he set up Jorginho in the 93rd minute, with the midfielder's strike from range forcing an own goal off Emi Martinez.

And the 21-year-old then tapped home into an empty to seal the comeback victory after ex-Gunners teammate Martinez went up for a corner.

His strike helped Arsenal leapfrog Manchester City back to the top of the Premier League table following the Citizens' 1-1 draw away at Nottingham Forest.

However Martinelli's decision to lift his hands in the air prior to scoring into an empty net hasn't gone down well with Agbonlahor, who accused him of showing a 'lack of respect'.

Speaking on talkSPORT's GameDay Phone-In, Agbonlahor said: "I thought it was an entertaining game, they're the games you want to see.

"Both teams going for it, no one sitting back, Aston Villa had so many chances as well, Leon Bailey running through and hitting the bar.

Most read in football

"But I thought Arsenal were impressive in the second half, they didn't turn up in the first half, but in the second half they were relentless.

"[Bukayo] Saka getting at players, [Granit] Xhaka and [Martin] Odegaard finding space, and Arsenal thoroughly deserved the win.

"But, there was a part of the game I didn't like. I didn't like Martinelli running through, empty net, and he's just celebrating before he's put the ball into the back of the net.

"You know he's been rubbish for a month, and he's scoring a tap-in and celebrating before he scores.

"[It's a] lack of respect for your team-mates, I didn't like it."

Asked about Martinez's time-wasting by co-host Jamie O'Hara, Agbonlahor stated: "I didn't like that either!

"I didn't see no point in Martinez wasting time because it gets added onto the end of the game.

"But that from Martinelli for me today wasn't very sportsmanlike."

In what was a fiery match in the Midlands, Arsenal and Villa's staff threatened to come to blows in the stands following Martinez's own goal.

Arsenal analyst Miguel Molina is claimed to have been ejected from the media area after an angry verbal altercation with Villa coaches Victor Manas and Jamie Arias.

ncG1vNJzZmiskaG4tLzOq6tnm5%2BifKe7zq2ZmqScZH50f5VxbGpnkafAprrApWSgmZKntqa4jKaYq6yZo7KtuMhmmp6klZe%2FosDIqKVmn5GXr7p5wKCZqKaclrWwvo4%3D