Gabriel Martinelli urges Arsenal to learn after Villa draw

Gabriel Martinelli has stressed the importance of learning from mistakes after Arsenal dropped points in a frustrating 2-2 draw against Aston Villa.

Despite taking a commanding 2-0 lead with Martinelli opening the scoring in the first half—his seventh goal of the season—and Kai Havertz doubling the advantage, Arsenal were stunned by a quick response from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins, leaving their title hopes dented.

“It’s a disappointing day for us,” Martinelli said. “We wanted to come here to win the game. We didn’t, but that’s the Premier League, and we will have to rewatch the game and see what we did wrong and improve for the next one.”

Martinelli added: “But we’re ready to go. We play for Arsenal, we are proud of ourselves, and we want to play every game and win all of them. We are going to go for it.”

The result leaves Arsenal six points behind league leaders Liverpool, having played a game more.

Compounding the frustration is the absence of key players, including William Saliba, who missed the match due to a muscular issue. Manager Mikel Arteta admitted after the game that he is “very worried” about Saliba’s fitness and awaits the results of further tests.

Arsenal’s injury list includes Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Ben White, and Takehiro Tomiyasu, which has left Arteta’s bench lacking depth compared to their rivals.

While Liverpool benefited from the impact of substitutes in their late 2-0 win over Brentford, Arsenal had fewer attacking options, with several academy players and only Raheem Sterling available to come on.

As Arsenal turn their attention to Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Dinamo Zagreb, Martinelli’s call for reflection and improvement resonates.

The Gunners must regroup quickly to avoid further setbacks and stay in the hunt for silverware.