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Gabriel Martinelli should have been sent off for pushing referee Sam Barrott during Arsenal's defeat by Southampton, according to ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey. The incident happened in the final minutes of Saints' surprise 2-1 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup on Saturday night.

Shea Charles' finish into the bottom corner in the 85th minute had put the home side back ahead and left the Gunners desperately chasing a second equaliser. Mikel Arteta's side tried to put the pressure on Southampton and were awarded a free-kick when Max Dowman was brought down in the 94th minute.

Martinelli ran over to the scene to try and take the free-kick quickly. He pushed Barrott and grabbed the ball, trying to restart play as swiftly as possible. The shocked official blew his whistle and pulled out the yellow card for the Arsenal forward.

Halsey refereed in the Premier League between 1999 and 2013 and believes Barrott should have issued a red instead, in order to lay down a marker and demand more respect for officials.

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"Referee Sam Barrott awarded a free-kick to Arsenal, Martinelli comes rushing in and he pushes Sam out of the way," he told The Sun. "Now I'm sorry, Gabriel Martinelli showed total disrespect for the match official Sam Barrott in that situation.

"Although Sam issued a yellow card, for me it's a red card. You just cannot put your hands on a referee, let alone push him out of the way. You've got to look around the country, up and down, Saturday and Sundays where we have local park referees going out and doing their games. What message does that send out to our local park referees?

"I thought Sam had a good game, he refereed the game well, but I think he let the refereeing community down by not sending off Gabriel Martinelli for pushing him at the award of a free-kick, so he could take the free-kick quickly."

HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Gabriel Martinelli have been sent off? Comment below.

Ref Support UK, a charity which trains and supports officials, wrote on X: "The FA cannot let him get away with that. This will be a missed opportunity if they don’t take action against Arsenal and Martinelli.

"There has been too many incidents in football where refs are pushed or shoved and football cannot let it escalate any more. I would have loved to see the ref send him off."

The incident came on a miserable night for Arsenal on the south coast. Having been chasing a quadruple up until recently, they are now left in just two competitions, having lost the Carabao Cup final to Manchester City and been knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Southampton.

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