Arsenal fans have been widely praising forward Gabriel Martinelli for his impact in Brazil’s 5-2 victory against the United Arab Emirates last night.
The Gunners forward was initially selected on the bench for the Selecao in a warm-up game for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which are set to take place this summer.
Having found themselves 2-1 down in the 67th minute in Serbia, Arsenal’s Martinelli was introduced ten minutes later and assisted hugely in turning the game on its head with Brazil netting four goals in just 13 minutes.
The Arsenal forward came off the sidelines to replace Claudinho and his impact was instantaneous with Brazil finding their equaliser just a minute later.
Martinelli then bettered that by scoring a goal of his own, tapping in from close range following a header across goal from Hertha BSC’s Matheus Cunha.
Two more strikes followed as Brazil racked up a comprehensive, albeit late, victory.
Martinelli will certainly be hoping to continue his form into the Games as Brazil face group matches against Germany, Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia.
In the meantime, however, Martinelli continued to garner praise for his performance throughout his brief cameo.
Here are the best of the responses from Arsenal fans from social media.
Martinelli endured a somewhat frustrating 2020/21 season under Mikel Arteta.
He made 23 appearances across what was an injury-hit campaign, scoring on just two occasions. The Brazilian still has three years left to run on his current Arsenal contract.
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