A contentious incident marred the 0-0 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, involving Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli and injured Liverpool defender Conor Bradley. In stoppage time, Bradley went down off the ball with what appeared to be a knee injury. While Bradley was in considerable pain and later stretchered off, Martinelli attempted to shove him off the pitch, seemingly believing Bradley was time-wasting as Arsenal pushed for a late winner. This action provoked anger from several Liverpool players, leading to a melee where Martinelli was yellow-carded along with Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot expressed deep concern over Conor Bradley's injury, stating, "I don't know yet, but it doesn't look great when you have to go off on a stretcher." He also offered a nuanced defense of Martinelli's actions, attributing them to the prevalent issue of time-wasting in modern football. Slot remarked, "I don't know Gabriel Martinelli, but he comes across as a nice guy and I think the problem for him is, and it's a problem in general in football, is there's so much time-wasting and players pretending they're injured during the game, you can sometimes be annoyed if you want to score a goal and you think a player is time-wasting." He added that he was "100% sure that if he knew what the injury might be that he would never do that." Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, however, criticized Martinelli, emphasizing that a player's health is paramount: "I understand you want to win, we want to win as well, but I think the health of a player is much more important than something else."

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta initially defended his player, stating, "Knowing Gabi, if anybody knows Gabi, he's an incredible, lovely guy, and probably he didn't realize what happened." Arteta further added he would speak with Martinelli to gain more clarity on the incident.

Following the match and widespread criticism, including from former Manchester United captains Roy Keane and Gary Neville who called his actions "disgraceful" and "idiotic," Gabriel Martinelli issued a public apology. He posted on his Instagram account, revealing he had messaged Bradley directly: "Conor and I have messaged and I have already apologised to him. I really didn't understand he was seriously injured in the heat of the moment. I want to say I'm deeply sorry for reacting. Sending Conor all my best again for a quick recovery."

Bradley, 22, left the stadium on crutches and was seen wearing a supportive brace on his left knee, indicating a potentially significant spell on the sidelines. The 0-0 draw resulted in Arsenal moving six points clear of Manchester City in the league standings, but the incident involving Martinelli and Bradley became a central talking point.