Arsenal welcomed football back after the international break with a good win against Fulham.
The Gunners have had troubles against Marco Silva’s side in recent seasons, but Mikel Arteta’s men were much better for large parts of the clash.
Mikel Merino opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half, before Bukayo Saka found the net just over six minutes after his return from injury.
The two players have earned a lot of praise for their goals since the full-time whistle, but the real star of the show at the Emirates on Tuesday night was someone else.
Frank Leboeuf has had his say on that player.
World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf delivers verdict on Gabriel Martinelli’s performance vs Fulham
Gabriel Martinelli has had a difficult season at Arsenal.
The Brazil international struggled with form early on in the campaign and was competing for a place in the side with Leandro Trossard.
Then, following Saka’s injury, Martinelli had to play on the right wing, and it was clear to see that he wasn’t able to have the kind of impact there that he is capable of on the opposite side.
In between all of that, the 23-year-old suffered an injury that kept him out for about a month, and that had an effect on his performances.
However, against Fulham on Tuesday night, Martinelli arguably produced his best performance of the season, and was definitely the Man of the Match.
After the game, on ESPN, Leboeuf, who won the World Cup with France in 1998, hailed the Arsenal number 11 and called him ‘exceptional’.
He said: “I found Martinelli exceptional. I was so happy to see him coming back to his best.
“It was a bad time for Castagne. As a former defender, it’s a nightmare to see a defender suffering that much, but Martinelli was on fire.”
Arsenal need to stop making the same mistake with Martinelli
Martinelli is a terrific talent – everybody knows that.
The Brazilian has had a couple of difficult seasons after his phenomenal 15-goal campaign in the Premier League back in 2022/23.
Arsenal fans and Arteta will be hoping to see more of the same from Martinelli, but his teammates will have to help him out.
The former Ituano man almost always receives the ball too late – he rarely ever gets the ball when he is free and on the move.
Arsenal need to be a lot quicker in finding Martinelli. If they do, he will have a fair chance to torment the opposition right-back, which is something he is more than capable of.
