Arsenal have reportedly learned whether Gabriel Martinelli will be sanctioned by the FA, while there is an update on Gabriel Magalhaes.
The Gunners are coming off a difficult couple of weeks, in which they have lost the Carabao Cup final vs Manchester City and been knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Southampton.
These results have ended Arsenal’s Quadruple hopes, so their remaining hopes of ending their prolonged trophy drought this season are on the Premier League and Champions League.
Mikel Arteta‘s side will be looking to bounce back when they face Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Tuesday night, though they have had several concerns regarding player availability heading into this match.
Firstly, it was feared that Martinelli could receive a retrospective ban for pushing referee Sam Barrott during the loss to Southampton.
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On this incident, former Premier League referee Mark Halsey told The Sun: “Referee Sam Barrott awarded a free-kick to Arsenal, Martinelli comes rushing in and he pushes Sam out of the way.
“Now I’m sorry, Gabriel Martinelli showed total disrespect for the match official Sam Barrott in that situation.
“Although Sam issued a yellow card, for me it’s a red card. You just cannot put your hands on a referee, let alone push him out of the way.
“You’ve got to look around the country, up and down, Saturday and Sundays where we have local park referees going out and doing their games.
“What message does that send out to our local park referees?
“I thought Sam had a good game, he refereed the game well, but I think he let the refereeing community down by not sending off Gabriel Martinelli for pushing him at the award of a free-kick, so he could take the free-kick quickly.”
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Barrott did book Martinelli for pushing him, and The Athletic are reporting that he will not face an ‘FA sanction’.
The report explains:
‘Gabriel Martinelli is not expected to face further disciplinary action from the Football Association after pushing referee Sam Barrott during Arsenal’s FA Cup defeat to Southampton.
‘Given on-field referee Barrott took action during the game by cautioning the Brazil international, he is not expected to face any retrospective disciplinary sanctions from the FA.’
There is more good news with Gabriel after he was forced off with a knee injury during the loss to Southampton.
Speaking post-match, Arteta said: “I think he felt something.
“I don’t know exactly what it is. We’re going to have to assess him, but obviously, when a player is asking to be substituted, it’s never good news.”
But Gabriel may be fit to face Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday as he trained with the rest of Arsenal’s squad on Tuesday. The same can be said for Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard, but Bukayo Saka and Jurrien Timber were not involved.
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