Calafiori and Wright react to Martinelli’s performance vs Southampton
|Arsenal continued their unbeaten start to the campaign with a 3-1 comeback win over Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners were the dominant side in the opening half of the encounter, but they lacked the cutting edge in the final third with just one shot on target.
The Saints took a surprise lead through Cameron Archer in the 55th minute. This provided a wake-up call for Mikel Arteta’s side and they responded brilliantly.
Kai Havertz levelled the scores within three minutes. Gabriel Martinelli made it 2-1 in the 68th minute with a wonderful side-foot volley from a Bukayo Saka cross.
Saka put the game beyond doubt with the club’s third goal before stoppage time.
Martinelli was obviously delighted with the result and shortly after the game, he wrote on Instagram: “Winning energy heading into the international break.”
Riccardo Calafiori was the only Arsenal player to respond with ‘easy eh’ while club legend Ian Wright replied with a love and bicep emoji – ‘❤️❤️❤️❤️💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾’.
Martinelli had a tough second half to the 2023/24 season where he was often playing second fiddle to Leandro Trossard on the left side of the Gunners attack.
The 23-year-old had an equally difficult start to the current campaign, but he has stepped up over last three league games with two goals and two assists.
The £50 million-rated star appears to have turned the corner with regards to his form.
He has been rewarded with a recall by Brazil manager Dorival Junior for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru – the latter at home.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com