Gabriel Martinelli’s partner has revealed she told him on Saturday that he’d score as a second-half substitute against Manchester City.
Gabriel Martinelli scored a late equaliser against Manchester City on Sunday, denying the away side all three points and earning a draw for the Gunners.
But one person who wasn’t surprised was Martinelli’s partner Isabella Rousso, who revealed on Instagram that she’d predicted the outcome.
Rousso shared a WhatsApp exchange, in which Martinelli said to her: “But I’m not playing tomorrow.”
Rousso responded: “You will catch the tired guys in the second half and score, you’ll see.”
That’s exactly what happened, with Martinelli coming off the bench and scoring in injury time. Rousso added in a caption: “Proud proud proud, you deserve it!”
Later in the evening, in response to a number of replies, Rousso explained why she has Martinelli’s name saved in her phone as “Gabriel Martinelli” rather than something more personal.
“Yes, I save all contacts with first and last name,” Rousso said. “His contact has been the same since 2020. I started doing it for safety reasons and then it just stuck, everyone ended up standardised.”
The Manchester City goal was Martinelli’s second game-changing goal in a few days, having come off the bench to give Arsenal the lead away to Athletic Club on Tuesday.
If the Brazilian can keep providing those kinds of moments in the coming weeks and months, it will be a big boost for Arsenal.