‘That wins them the league’ – Carragher hails Arsenal star for key action in Man City defeat | OneFootball

Jamie Carragher has heaped praise on Gabriel Martinelli following Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, insisting he took a “chance” to “win them the league”.

Erling Haaland scored the decisive goal after Kai Havertz quickly cancelled out Rayan Cherki’s stunning opener at the Etihad.

The result means City will draw level on points with Arsenal at the top of the table if they win their game in hand against Burnley on Wednesday, but Carragher was impressed with the fight Mikel Arteta’s side showed on Sunday and reserved special praise for Martinelli.

The Brazilian came on as a late substitute and very nearly provided the crucial contribution to see Arsenal secure what Carragher insists would have been a title-clinching victory.

Martinelli tackled Marc Guehi in midfield and set up an Arsenal counter-attack which saw Havertz force Gianluigi Donnarumma into a save after being played in on goal by Martin Odegaard.

“Keep an eye on Martinelli, and don’t forget the idea at the start of the game is to press high and be aggressive,” Carragher said while analysing the moment on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

“So he presses here. That ball is on here to leave [Cristhian] Mosquera in a 2v1. So that’s the chance you take when you press high.

“But now he wins the tackle. That tackle leads to Arsenal having a chance at 1-1 to go 2-1 up. And that wins them the league. If that chance here goes in the league’s won.

“So Martinelli has taken the chance to go and win Arsenal the league.”

Carragher now believes that Manchester City are in the driving seat and will overtake Arsenal to clinch the Premier League title.

“I think City have got the edge,” he said.

“I just think momentum, experience, how that will affect Arsenal psychologically… not just that game, the run of games that they’re on, the performances as well.

“This was definitely a better performance, there’s no doubt about that.

“I thought it was a brilliant game, it was a testament to both teams, both managers, it felt like a real top-level game.”

On the two teams’ respective run-ins, Carragher continued: “City have got the harder fixtures, there’s no doubt.

“But when you get to this stage and you’re in Arsenal’s position, just searching for a win from anywhere and the nerves are kicking in, the supporters are getting anxious, their next two games are at home in the Premier League, it almost doesn’t matter who you play.

“It’s more about you really. We’ve seen them lose to Bournemouth and most people would have said that was a game they should win.

“Newcastle is the next game and Newcastle are struggling right now, but you can’t hang your hat on Arsenal at the moment because this run has gone on now for four or five games in different competitions and they just need to stop it quickly.”