Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli started for Brazil in their game against Mexico.
The Gunners number 11 didn’t have the greatest season in the Premier League in 2023/24, but he still did enough to convince Dorival Junior to call him up to the Brazil squad.
Against Mexico late on Saturday night, Martinelli made a fantastic name for himself despite having a fairly quiet game for his national team.
Arsenal fans are really impressed with one thing about his performance.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli scores for Brazil
Brazil manager Dorival named a much-changed side in their second-last game before the Copa America.
Martinelli got the nod and started on the left flank, with Porto’s Evanilson and Troyes star Savio alongside him in attack.
Although the Arsenal man was named as a winger, he found himself in central areas of the pitch a lot more than he does under Mikel Arteta at the Emirates.
That movement gave Martinelli a huge chance in the very first minute of the game, but he missed the cross by just a few inches.
The Arsenal star couldn’t have a consistent impact because Brazil’s attacks rarely came down the left flank. However, in the second half, he made his mark.
Martinelli, once again, found himself in a central area and got on the end of Yan Couto’s cross inside the box. The former Ituano man tapped the ball into the back of the net with his weaker left foot to put his side 2-0 up.
Brazil eventually won the game 3-2.
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Martinelli’s confidence was at an all-time low in the 2023/24 season.
After being one of Arsenal’s best players in the previous campaign, the Brazilian struggled to have a similar impact and ended up losing his place in the side to Leandro Trossard.
Granit Xhaka’s departure clearly hurt Martinelli on the left flank, as did Arteta’s insistence on the 22-year-old hugging the touchline all the time.
After watching Martinelli score when given the freedom to move to a central area, Arsenal fans are all telling Arteta to deploy him through the middle.
Reacting to his goal, one fan tweeted: “Martinelli when he isn’t forced to be touchline winger!”
“Maybe Martinelli is the striker signing,” another fan said.
“Arteta keeps this fox in the box on the touchline,” wrote another frustrated fan.
Another Arsenal supporter said: “I like the fact that he came central to score this goal despite playing as a left winger. This is what we expect to see more from him and Saka, not just hugging the touchline. It’s all down to Arteta.”
“Martinelli will find the goal as a striker. He always scores for Brazil as a striker. His pace through the middle is an asset that Mikel Arteta needs to leverage,” tweeted another fan.