Mikel Arteta heaped praise on Gabriel Martinelli after the Arsenal wide-man turned from Public Enemy No1 to FA Cup hat-trick hero at Fratton Park on Sunday.
Martinelli was heavily criticised across the game for trying to push a badly injured Conor Bradley off the pitch during Arsenal's match against Liverpool at The Emirates on Thursday night.
Bradley has subsequently been ruled out for the rest of the season and even though Martinelli apologised to him for his actions, he was booed by Portsmouth fans every time he touched the ball.
But Martinelli shrugged off his notoriety and scored three times as an Arsenal second-string breezed past the Championship strugglers 4-1 on the south coast to progress to the fourth round.
Arsenal fans reacted to his hat-trick by singing chants about Gary Neville, the Sky Sports analyst, who had led the chorus of criticism of Arsenal's Brazilian star.
'That kind of criticism is part of football and then it's about how you take it,' Arteta said. 'But Gabi knew inside the reason why he did what he did.
'I think Arne Slot spoke brilliantly after the game. He explained the situation and the fact that Gabi had no intention whatsoever to damage any player.
'And, yeah, what you saw today with the way he reacted to that, that's personality. Come in and talk on the pitch, which is the best part of it.
'That's why, to play for a big club, you need a big personality because it can be bad, it can be an action that you miss, it can be something that costs you a game. And three days later, there is a game. So you need to lift yourself up and make it count.
'I love that about his attitude. Gabi, in every context that you throw him in, whether he plays, or he doesn't play, he reacts the same. Tomorrow, he's going to train 100 miles an hour, for sure. He's not going to change that. And that's Gabi.'
Arsenal, who are six points clear at the top of the Premier League, have been knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round in the last two seasons in succession but even though Arteta made 10 changes to the team, they never looked like meeting that fate again at Fratton Park.
They went behind inside the first three minutes but hit back five minutes later before Martinelli's hat-trick took the game away from the home team.
Sitilprtz
1
hay l am arsenal fans
rozbdeopt
0
Ganyan kasarap kapag may humihingi ng tawad pagkatapos magkamali kahit hindi naman sinasadya. Binabati kita Martinelli sa paggawa ng tama sa pamamagitan ng paghingi ng tawad.
emondorock
3
it was high stakes Liverpool in the heat of the movement and he apologised what more do you fuckers want.Neville is a clown in disguise....what a arshole of a player
Descdikpty
2
karma will soon find him
Haadeilnpu
0
The people who are tv talking us through the games are very selective with their criticism,how Gary Neville spoke about Martinelli it sounded like he has committed an unerraseable error,we will see when their favourate sons commit more severe errors what they will say,yes he was wrong but we cannot crucify the poor boy but teach him the right way
Kekinpsy
3
FiFa must convert yellow card to red
dabbilnosu
6
praises him from Bradley clash what a nonceses talk. don't know why always sounds like baby no good manners at all.