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Despite being on the wrong end of a 4-1 scoreline on Tuesday night, Chris Sutton gave immense credit to Arsenal youngster Gabriel Martinelli for his individual performance.

Arsenal were beaten convincingly by Manchester City last night in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, as their poor domestic form stretched even further.

The Gunners were level at 1-1 going into half-time, but were blown away in the second-half by a Man City side that are favourites to win the competition for a fourth consecutive season.

Pundit Sutton believes that the return of Martinelli was at least one shining light for Mikel Arteta’s side.

The 19-year-old attacker started his first game since returning from a long-term knee injury, albeit he was substituted off in the early stages of the second-half with a suspected injury problem.

But during his time on the pitch he injected the kind of quality in the final third that has been seriously lacking of late, as he provided a great assist for Alexandre Lacazette’s header.

“He introduced energy into an Arsenal side seriously lacking in confidence and produced a superb cross for Lacazette to make it 1-1,” Sutton told the Daily Mail.

“Martinelli tried to run off the collision with City’s goalkeeper but had to be removed. Arsenal cannot take chances with this young man. They need him fit.

“Martinelli plays with heart. You might say that is the least you expect from a professional, but you could question the effort of some Arsenal players of late. Not of Martinelli.”

TBR’s View:

With Arsenal currently sat 15th in the Premier League table, they piled even more pressure on themselves by being knocked out of the cup in relatively easy fashion and they looked a team at an all-time low.

If they are going to turn it around this season, then surely Martinelli is going to have a big role to play.

The Brazilian teenager showed that he’s tenacious with his work-rate and adds the kind of bite the team needs, plus he’s confident enough to run at defenders with the ball at his feet and look to create things.

There are a handful of top players at the Emirates Stadium that need to become the core of the side and Martinelli is certainly one of them, as he showed more than most despite being out of action for a long time.