Gabriel Martinelli returned to action on Tuesday night as Arsenal’s Under-21’s were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by AFC Wimbledon in the Papa John’s Trophy.
The Gunners were dominated in the encounter at Plough Lane as youngsters Miguel Azeez and summer signing Tim Akinola – as well as exiled veteran Sokratis Papastathopoulos – started the match.
Akinola and William Saliba were both sent off late on for Arsenal as Ryan Longman, Paul Osew and Joe Pigott scored for the Dons.
The defeat knocked Arsenal out of the competition but Mikel Arteta was handed a major boost as Martinelli returned.
The 19-year-old started the game and played 45 minutes, as he looks to ramp up his return from a serious knee injury.
Martinelli has been out since June but made his return earlier than planned as he got some minutes in the tank last night.
The youngster took to social media after the match to post an emotional message to Arsenal fans for their ‘amazing support’ throughout his recovery, adding that it was a great feeling to finally play again.
He tweeted: “It was a great feeling to get minutes tonight – huge thanks to the medical and physio teams @Arsenal for their fantastic work and to the fans for the amazing support during my long recovery.”
Martinelli burst on to the scene at the Emirates last season, scoring ten goals in 26 appearances.
And last month, former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell backed the Brazilian to bounce back from his injury woes and reach the very top echelons of the game.
