Martinelli reveals Arsenal's edge over Sporting: We knew... | OneFootball

Gabriel Martinelli highlighted the importance of Arsenal’s win at Alvalade, but warned that the tie against Sporting is still wide open. The Brazilian winger, who came on in the 76th minute and assisted Kai Havertz for the decisive goal, said he was pleased with the result and praised the Sporting side, while also making a ‘confession’.

"We knew about the quality of Sporting. We spoke a lot with Viktor during the week. He told us many things about Sporting, that they were a team with a lot of quality, and we also watched several videos of them. We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy match, especially here in Lisbon, at their home ground. We showed a very good attitude from the start. Of course, it’s not easy to come here, keep a clean sheet and leave with the win, but I think we deserved the victory. Very happy with the win, but we know it’s only one part. We’ll go to London with the same mentality," he told Sport TV.

The Brazilian also commented on the impact of his introduction, stressing his willingness to contribute whenever he is called upon. "I trust in my potential. I always want to play, I want to be on the pitch to help my team, whether it’s the FA Cup, Carabao, Champions League, Premier League... I want to play as much as possible. I’m very happy to have come into the game and to have played a few minutes."

Martinelli also had plenty of praise for Viktor Gyökeres, highlighting the Swedish forward’s influence within the group. "He’s an incredible human being, always close by and talking to everyone. We know adaptation is difficult when someone joins a new team. We tried to help him from the very beginning. He is a player who is willing to help the team on and off the pitch."

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.