Arsenal star caught red-handed as ‘arrogant’ gesture at Wolves comes back to bite him

Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League as their grip on the title loosened further.

Gabriel Martinelli’s gesture towards Wolves supporters quickly backfired after Arsenal surrendered a late leveler at Molineux. The Gunners held a 2-0 lead before being forced to settle for a 2-2 stalemate and have now managed just three wins in their previous eight matches in the division.

Martinelli was selected ahead of Leandro Trossard, with the Brazilian making his first league appearance since the 0-0 stalemate at Nottingham Forest last month. He then played the full 90 minutes.

Bukayo Saka opened the scoring inside five minutes, while Piero Hincapie extended his team’s advantage shortly after the break. The Ecuadorian’s strike was subject to extensive VAR scrutiny, but he judged his run impeccably.

LEARN MORE: Arsenal pair selected for their actions during Wolves’ draw as dressing room claimedLEARN MORE: Arsenal receive huge boost to their trophy hopes as Man City face match dilemma

Hugo Bueno started Wolves’ fightback with a magnificent curling strike just after the hour mark, and moments later Martinelli was seen raising his arms and waving to the home fans about the score after winning a corner.

Footage of the incident was uploaded to X, with fans branding his actions “arrogant”. And it would be Wolves fans who would have the last laugh as Martinelli’s actions came back to haunt him.

In stoppage time, after Gabriel and David Raya collided while trying to deal with a Wolves delivery, Samuel Edozie’s attempt hit the upright before deflecting off Calafiori and into the goal to claim Wolves an unlikely point.

This stalemate has given Manchester City a huge advantage in the Premier League title race. Pep Guardiola’s side meet Newcastle United on Saturday, while Arsenal travel to Tottenham in the north London derby.

FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE!

Latest Gunners news and more on our dedicated Facebook page

In his post-match press conference, Arteta admitted: “Extremely disappointed, obviously, with the result, with the way the game ended, but we have to blame ourselves.

“I think the second half performance showed nothing close to the standard required in this league to win, with the margin that I think should have been there today, especially in the way we played the first half.

“It’s a disappointing time. We all want to talk a lot about how we feel, but now is not the time to do that, because everything we do should always and only have the intention of helping the team. For now, I think we have to swallow this frustration.

“When you are at this level and at the top, you have to take the blow, because today we deserve it too, and move forward as quickly as possible, because on Sunday we have a big match coming up.”

Make sure our latest sports headlines always appear at the top of your Google search by making us a preferred source.

Click here to activate or add us as a preferred source in your Google search settings