Gabriel Martinelli speaks out on his iconic celebration against Chelsea

Gabriel Martinelli was in the Arsenal starting eleven that faced Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge in January and he was very influential in the come back that saw 10 men gunners come back twice to get a point against The Blues. Martinelli’s goal not only made headlines but his celebration also instantly became iconic as it was incredible.

Arsenal came into this match hoping to win their first away game against a top six side since 2015 but a big mistake in the first half by Shkodran Mustafi saw the gunners get reduced to 10 men and go one goal down after David Luiz had to bring down Abraham in the penalty box after he had intercepted the pass from the German defender. The Blues went in front and everyone then wrote off any chances of Arsenal getting a point there since Chelsea had recently beaten them at the Emirates Stadium and they were playing with 10 men.

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 21: Gabriel Martinelli breaks past Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante to score the 1st Arsenal goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC at Stamford Bridge on January 21, 2020 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Gabriel Martinelli rose to the challenge in the second half when he took the ball from inside his own half, skipping past Chelsea’s Kante to go on to score a wonderful goal and then doing that arms crossed with stare towards fans celebration. Arsenal fans first speculated that the reason he celebrated like that was because a fan was doing that in the stands but he has however revealed that he had already planned this celebration.

“Many people think I looked at the fans and saw a guy with his arms crossed, but I didn’t. I’d already planned to celebrate like that – Its funny because my mother told me the night before that I was gonna score.” Martinelli told Arsenal Player in a AMA session. ( Need to download the Arsenal app to watch it)

Chelsea later on scored their second goal of the day but Arsenal was still able to get back into the game thanks to a wonderful strike from Hector Bellerin and it ended 2-2 with the gunners miraculously walking away with a point against all odds.