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Ray Parlour has admitted he was baffled by the decision from Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta not to start 19-year-old Gabriel Martinelli last night.

The Gunners suffered a 2-1 away defeat last night in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie against Villarreal.

Despite a disappointing overall performance, Nicolas Pepe’s second-half penalty does give Arsenal an away goal going into next week’s second leg.

With the north London side sat mid-table in the Premier League, the club’s hopes of European football next season rest on winning this year’s Europa League.

Ex-Arsenal midfielder Parlour has questioned the call from Arteta to select Martinelli on the bench against Villarreal, albeit he was used for the final half an hour in the second period.

“Team selection probably was wrong last night. Martinelli has got to start. Martinelli, he’s got that little bit of energy. He runs after you. He can run in behind,” Parlour told talkSPORT.

TBR’s View:

With Alexandre Lacazette unavailable, and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang only used from the bench due to his recent illness, it left Arsenal without a recognised starting striker against Villarreal.

Eddie Nketiah was an unused substitute last night, and versatile attacker Martinelli was named on the bench.

It means that Emile Smith Rowe was asked by the manager to fill into an unfamiliar false none role, which don’t work too well.

£90,000-a-week (Spotrac) attacker Martinelli is recognised as a left-winger, but he’s shown he can do a job at centre-forward too.

He’s not been a regular starter for Arsenal during 2021 despite cries from fans for him to play more, and for some reason he’s not quite earned Arteta’s trust.