Richard Keys argues that Gabriel Martinelli never meant the pass that set up Eddie Nketiah’s goal for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest.
Keys, a known critic of Mikel Arteta, was among millions of football fans who watched the game and saw Arsenal hold on to win the match 2-1.
Nketiah was in the team as a replacement for Gabriel Jesus, who is injured and unavailable for selection.
Martinelli has kept his place on the left side of the Arsenal attack and was in good form down that wing during the game.
In one of his surging runs, the ball broke kindly to Nketiah, and the striker fired home the opener.
But Keys argues he did not mean to pass the ball to the English striker. He tweeted:
“Lovely goal. Brilliant Martinelli – but I’m not sure he meant the pass. He wanted that for himself but it was a big touch. he lost control of. We’ll argue about it as long as we have Bergkamp at Newcastle.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Keys’ opinion is not important in the grand scheme of things and he would be smart to keep them to himself.
The pundit has always been an Arsenal critic, so we do not care what he thinks and the most important thing is that we won.
One of my favs but that was never a pass in a million years .
Gobby keys is right hands down ,he skilled the 2 defenders it ran on and Eddie picked it up ,either way he still made the goal with the trick .
No proof sir. It’s 100% an intended pass; a piece of ingenuity from him. You and the writer are totally wrong.
He’s done tricky stuff like that before
Haha you start with “no proof sir” and then go on to claim something as 100% without any proofs 😂 Martinelli is my fav player in the team but Keys is right, that was brilliant but never ever an intended pass
I actually felt the same way too as I watched the match and was convinced after having watched the replays.
I loved the assist and really want to believe it was a pass but it obviously isn’t.
Anyways what matters is Eddie buried it and we won.
But the was scored, right?
🎯💯
Does it really matter? More to the point, why give Keys air space, he’s a total tosser?
100% agree. Can’t wait for his retirement… That guy has so much resentment, being English, still can’t get pass the Invincibles…….
I still wonder why Arteta would play Kai Havertz instead of ESR who showed a better record when fit.
65M wasted for nothing. We could have bought Diaby who had a good illustration with a lot of ease than Havertz who struggled to prove himself today. We could have bought Kudus or Veiga or simply gone in for Caicedo.
Havertz has nothing to show for his years in the PL. We have better players on the bench and keep on playing Havertz. Give him time to adapt.
He looks very nervous to me because he is just too scared of failing.
I don’t know you but I love this comment, another Arsenal fan who sees the truth about havertz……crap buy.
Keys will never find a single positive to say about Arsenal or our players. He is ANTI-ARSENAL through and through! And he cannot hide it. LOL
Great bit of skill.
Great first game keep on winning let the talkers talk.
Dragging the Iceman into his logic….I’ve never doubted Dennis’s honesty of the amazing goals he scored but i wouldn’t leave Keys and Grey with my daughters on their own even if Dennis swore blind Keys and Grey were gentlemen. Scumbags the pair of them.
it doesn’t matter at all. In every single game you’ll some type of anomaly……..a lucky deflection, a piece of trickery that went wrong but ended up by pure fortune ending up ok. You get breaks of luck in all walks of life and especially in sport.
Richard Keys is either very good at what he does (courting controversy) or ….very uptight and bitter !
To put it mildly..he has depth in seeking attention by way of controversy
Keys why does he even have a job. He is biased, never gives credit to teams he does not and has no objectivity what so ever. Also a proven sexist who offers no intelligent insight. A disgrace to his profession.
“Lovely goal, but am not sure ne meant it”
It is for that reason Arsenal must shoot at goal more often, the ball can end up anywhere, especially in a crowded box.
Hi clever dribble was picked up by sharp Nketiah, when he was cornered by 2 of the defenders and most importantly he WON the dribble to get the ball past the defenders. Football is a team game and his team mate picked the ball from where Martinelli left off and scored. So if Martinelli didn’t clear the defenders there is no goal so it’s a brilliant one nothing selfish etc. No point ranting or blabbering
The trickery and flair is enough to warrant martinelli the assist. Although he rode on his luck on this occasion. I bet we have to test the keeper more oftenly. And the lads also gotta practice shooting as it made Cristiano Ronaldo though not better than Messi, the player he is today.
So what? Whether it was a blind assist or not, we won the game. Period.
Martinelli saw and knew that Nketiah was there. So, he knew that his movement and black heel could either benefit him, if he was also able to wriggle past his two markers. Or, it would leave Nketiah free to collect the ball unmarked, for a goa scoring opportunity.
It was a win-win for an attacker like Martinelli, with a flair for running at defenders.
That ball wasa clever pass to Nkethiah. After the pass he needed to go pas the two defenders & continue play. It was that move on that it is interpreted not to be a pass. Was he expected to stand after the pass? It was perfect understanding by the players.
Please no insult to Merson. He is entitled to his opinion.
“Lovely goal.. brilliant martinelli”. is not negative. He is just saying the truth. It’s an excellent move from martinelli but he never meant to pass the ball to nketiah truly. And at the end it’s a goal.
He seems to get fatter every time I see him.
Should stick to making sexist remarks about female referee’s – but then again, he would fit in quite nicely in Qatar.
Martinelli did fluke it, but credit for getting into the position to make the fluke. He beat two close defenders hands down.
Exactly
Pass or No pass,we won period.Football is a team work.
Just let him gives his comments.. don’t ever bother…Arteta should concentrate as always as a Manager cum Coach
Everyone thought the same when Bergkamp scored that wonder goal against Newcastle, even PL players were trying it in training, I believe he meant it and the backheel went straight to Eddie
Nah,Bergkamp’s was something all different and there was no doubt that he meant it!!
What iis it with Arsenal and these pundits ehn? If its not scholes on odegaards pass to nketah, its keys on martinellis pass to nketiah.
They can go and remove the assist on his name if they think he dint mean it
He may be right but in football mistakes do result in goals. If a goal came from a mistake, intentional or not, nketsia was a beneficiary and he buried the ball to get an important opener for the gunners! Luck plays a big part in football games…like balls hitting the upright.of goalkeepers who only throw their hands or feet around in anticipation the ball will hit them and we take that as excellent saves. Assuming the ball never reached nketsia..a goal would not hv been scored!!!
I agree,after seeing it the first team I knew that it was not intentional and replays only confirmed it.