Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli suffered a hamstring injury during his side’s hard-fought 1-0 win at Everton, manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed, according to the Mirror.

After the Brazil international was replaced by Leandro Trossard midway through the first half of Sunday’s Premier League game, the Gunners were dealt a devastating injury blow.

Martinelli was injured just after he thought he had given Arsenal the lead with a beautiful finish, but the VAR review for an offside in the build-up resulted to the ‘goal’ being controversially ruled out.

The severity of the 22-year-old’s injury is yet unknown, however he was spotted leaving the field after Trossard replaced him and headed down the tunnel to receive more care. Martinelli ‘felt something’ in his hamstring, according to Arteta, therefore the attacker will need to be examined to ascertain the severity of the problem.

The Mirror quotes Arsenal as stating following the game:

“He felt something, he felt it in his hammy [hamstring], so he will need to be assessed,” he stated.

The North Londoners already have three players out injured, including Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, a summer addition, and Jurrien Timber.

Arsenal will be hoping the 22-year-old’s injury is not catastrophic as they attempt to play through the league games, Champions League, and Carabao Cup over the coming weeks. Timber, Partey, and Elneny are all out for a number of weeks.

Big blow

Martinelli now faces a serious risk of missing Wednesday’s game between Arsenal and PSV as well as the North London Derby against Tottenham on Sunday.

Arteta will be quite worried about the injury because Martinelli, who moved from Ituano to the Emirates Stadium in 2019, has been a crucial player for Arsenal for the past several seasons. Over the course of 136 appearances in all competitions, he has tallied 33 goals and 11 assists.

He was a constant for Arsenal last season as they came close to challenging Man City for the league title but were unable to do so owing to injuries and a decline in form. The South American played in 46 games overall, scoring 15 goals and dishing out six assists.

With the victory over Tottenham on Sunday, Arsenal closed the distance on league leaders Man City to just two points. Trossard, who replaced Martinelli, scored the game-winning goal.