Manchester United legend Roy Keane believes Gabriel Martinelli was 'lucky' to escape punishment after his reckless challenge on Brighton star Kauro Mitoma. Arsenal are currently losing 1-0 against the Seagulls with their Premier League title hopes hanging in the balance.
Manchester City had extended their lead at the top of the table to four points with a 3-0 win against Everton at Goodison Park earlier today. The Gunners were hoping to close that gap back down to just a single point with a win against Roberto De Zerbi's side this afternoon but found themselves behind following Julio Enciso's second-half strike.
Gary Neville was left baffled by referee Andrew Madley's decision not to brandish a red card, let alone a yellow, to Martinelli after he shoulder-barged Mitoma in the face. The Arsenal star was taken off with a suspected ankle injury 15 minutes later following a poor tackle from Moises Caicedo.
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Keane has disagreed with the Video Assistant Referee's (VAR) decision not to advise Madley to punish Martinelli for his challenge on Mitoma. Speaking to Sky Sports during their half-time coverage of the game, the United legend said: "Tough, he [Martinelli] was lucky.
"Maybe he got the benefit of the doubt because of his personality and the positioning of the player," he added. Presenter Kelly Cates interjected: "VAR said reckless rather than dangerous."
Keane continued: "Right, well, I’d probably disagree with that. But what a good teammate does is get retaliation back.
"It’s not a good tackle [from Caicedo on Martinelli], certainly looks a sore one and obviously he had to go off. Hopefully that’s not the end of his season because he’s been outstanding.
"Sometimes that’s the game. We played, you have to even things up, unfortunately for him."
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