FA PREMIER LEAGUE 

ARSENAL 0 

LIVERPOOL 0  

GABI Martinelli apologised after trying to push Conor Bradley off the pitch after he went down injured deep into added time.

The Arsenal winger, who thought like the rest of the stadium he was feigning injury, was described as an “idiot” by Sky pundit Gary Neville.

The real issue was that incredibly, Bradley was actually injured and had to be stretched away.

There had had been so much time-wasting and pointless delays to this incredibly frustrating match that when Bradley went down in the 94th minute the crowd simply couldn’t take any more.

Collectively, everyone was willing him to be rolled off the pitch.

Bucketing cold rain lashed down on the fans for most of the 90 that was a spectacle of slowly-taken goal kicks, over-refereeing and edging up and down the line at throw-ons, a player summit before every free kick.

Whenever an attack breaks down after a tackle, a player will lie down head in hands face down on the floor until the referee stops the game.

This is nothing new, but it is reaching epidemic levels – levels that make it hard to enjoy watching football.

The average ball in-play time for the Premier League is 55 minutes per game – the lowest on record.

After the match, Liverpool manager Arne Slot was on the money: “I don’t know Gabriel Martinelli, but he comes across as a nice guy.

“I think the problem for him – and it’s a problem in general in football – is that there is so much time-wasting and players pretending that they are injured in the final parts of the game and during the game, that you can sometimes be annoyed if you want to try to score a goal that you think the player is time-wasting.

“You cannot ask Martinelli to think so clear in the 94th minute.”

The Gunners were completely dominant in the first half but inexplicably collapsed in the second half in worrying fashion.

Several passes were misplaced and the play was over-cautious. Huge  sections of the game were played without any real intensity.

Stats showed that a third of the game was spent at walking pace, with just under 60 percent jogging.

This is not the kind of football that gets the pulses racing, technically interesting as it is.

Liverpool were woeful – not managing a shot on target in the whole match – but were unlucky not to take the three points.

Bradley had the best chance of the match, striking the underside of the bar in the first half after Raya was caught off his line again.

Hincapie was replaced by Miles Lewis Skelly who put in a disastrous performance against Frimpong, who one-twoed it round him with ease four times.

The Gunners were lucky to survive all of those attacks in a second half that was among the poorest to watch in many seasons at the Emirates.

Arsenal had a few half chances but chose to play safe for the majority of the match, probing endlessly but rarely making in-roads.

When Bukayo Saka did get past Bradley his cut backs into empty space. The hapless Viktor Gyokeres once again was never in the right place at the right time.

Fans who argue his contribution is more subtle than goals have surely got to rethink their position.

He touched the ball eight times in an hour before being substituted for Jesus, who similarly ineffective.

“I don’t know what happened to Conor, but hopefully it’s not bad,” said manager Mikel Arteta. “But obviously there is no intention from Gabi to do anything bad to him.”

The result means Arsenal stay comfortably top, six points ahead of their closest rivals but missed a chance to put more daylight between Villa and City following their draws this week.

Arsenal: Raya, Hincapié (Lewis-Skelly), Gabriel, Saliba, Timber, Rice, Zubimendi, Ødegaard (Eze 78), Trossard (Martinelli 64), Gyökeres (Jesus 64), Saka (Madueke 78)
Subs not used: Kepa, Merino, Nørgaard, White

Liverpool: Alisson,Kerkez, van Dijk, Konaté, Bradley (Gomez 95), Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Gakpo, Szoboszlai, Frimpong, Wirtz
Subs not used: Chiesa, Jones, Mamardashvili, Ngumoha, Nyoni, Ramsay, Robertson, Woodman

Attendance: 60,258