BBC pundit wowed by 22-year-old Arsenal player after amazing first-half moment vs Man United

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Pundit Matthew Upson was seriously impressed with the start to the match Arsenal man Gabriel Martinelli made to the game against Manchester United.

Upson was commentating on the game at the Emirates for BBC Sport as Arsenal look to beat one of their biggest rivals.

After an action-packed weekend of Premier League action, Arsenal saw all of their main rivals gain three points.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta would have been well aware of how important getting a good start was going to be given their start against Fulham last weekend.

They avoided conceding another first-minute goal and despite Man United having a lot of early possession, they weren’t doing anything with the ball.

The best chances were being created by Arsenal and in particular Gabriel Martinelli.

The 22-year-old was causing Man United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka all sorts of issues on the left wing.

He created the majority of the chances in the first half and one in particular he will feel his team should have done better with.

But Matthew Upson still wanted to shower praise on Martinelli for creating the chance for his Arsenal teammates.

The winger has been sensational but couldn’t prevent his side going behind to a Marcus Rashford goal.

Upson raves about Arsenal star Martinelli

After creating the first real opening for Arsenal, Martinelli continued creating chances.

Just before assisting Martin Odegaard’s equaliser, Upson said: “Wow, that man [Gabriel] Martinelli again. He is on fire at the moment.

“They don’t deal with it Manchester United, the cross comes into the box.

“A header from a United player around the penalty spot and then a ricochet from Anthony Martial.

“It falls to the feet of Kai Havertz and on his left foot, I don’t know what happened there.

“It’s just a swipe for the ball, complete miscue, misses the ball almost, just skims it.

“Didn’t look particularly comfortable or relaxed in order to take that opportunity, just tightened up a little bit there.”

Plenty of Arsenal fans will join Upson in praising Martinelli’s first-half performance today.

His pinpoint pass just minutes later gave Martin Odegaard the perfect opportunity to score past Andre Onana.

Arteta has already been praising Martinelli for his performances this season, as has teammate Eddie Nketiah.

They’re sure to have even more positive things to say after his start to the game against Manchester United.