Gabriel Martinelli has defended Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial celebration in Arsenal’s 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City by insisting the 18-year-old was not being disrespectful towards Erling Haaland.

Lewis-Skelly marked his first senior goal for the Gunners by imitating the City forward’s trademark meditation celebration.

Speaking after Arsenal’s statement win, which kept his side in the Premier League title race, manager Mikel Arteta appeared to warn his players against gloating.

But Martinelli stood up for his team-mate, whose well-taken second-half strike capped another fine performance from the club’s rising academy star.

“I don’t know if it (the celebration) was planned, but, for sure, he respects Erling a lot,” said Martinelli. “He scored an amazing goal, and he has been brilliant recently. We are really happy for him.”

Haaland, who momentarily hauled City level in the second half at the Emirates, was targeted by Arsenal in the wake of his “stay humble” comments to Arteta following the chaotic 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture at the Etihad back in September.

Prior to Lewis-Skelly’s celebration, Gabriel screamed in Haaland’s face after Martin Odegaard’s opener, while the Norway international was also taunted by the Arsenal supporters. In turn, Haaland pointed to the Premier League champions badge on the side of his City sleeve.

“It’s two teams that want to win the championship, so that’s a fight,” added Martinelli of the fierce rivalry that has developed between the two clubs.

“We tried our best, and they tried their best as well. We have to win duels to win these games and that’s why the game becomes hard work. We did well, and we are really happy with the result.

“We know our qualities, the team that we have. Even though we have some players injured, we know the quality we have in the team and we are trying our best for the club, for the players that are injured, and for the fans, too. We still have a long journey to go, many games to go, but we are going to try to do our best to win the league.”

Arsenal, who are six points behind Liverpool, will now turn their attention to the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final clash against Newcastle on Wednesday night.

The Gunners trail 2-0 in the tie, but Fulham proved Eddie Howe’s side can be beaten on home turf after they recorded a 2-1 win in the league at St James’ Park on Saturday.

And Martinelli said: “We are going to go there to win the game and to score three, four, five. Let’s see, the game is going to be really hard, for sure. But we are going to try our best to win the game.

“It is going to be another battle. We know how difficult it is to play there. But, as I said, we have an amazing team and we have full confidence in our squad and we trust ourselves. We are going to go there to win.”