Mikel Arteta has revealed that Gabriel Martinelli surprised him and the club medics by declaring himself fit despite suffering a hamstring injury.
The Brazilian winger stole the show by coming off the bench and scoring the winning goal against Manchester City on Sunday evening.
Martinelli was a major doubt for the game as it was assumed he would not be able to recover from his hamstring injury in time to join up with the squad.
The winger picked up the injury against Everton last month and has only been able to train with the squad once since that game.
After coming on for Leandro Trossard at half-time, he made an instant impact and would go on to score the winning goal in the 86th minute courtesy of a Nathan Ake deflection.
Speaking after the game Arteta revealed that ‘nobody expected him to be in the team’.
‘The officials weren’t having it. He said, “I’m gonna be there, I’m gonna be there.” he told Sky Sports.
‘Yesterday he turned up. He was in training. He said he was ready to go. Leo got injured and we needed him. I looked and he was dressed up and ready to go.’