Gabriel Martinelli has come to the defence of Myles Lewis-Skelly's much-talked-about celebration during Arsenal's emphatic 5-1 victory over Manchester City, asserting that the young Gunner meant no disrespect to Erling Haaland.

After netting his first goal for the senior team, Lewis-Skelly imitated the City forward’s trademark meditation celebration. Post-match, with Arsenal's title hopes invigorated, manager Mikel Arteta seemed to caution his squad about over-celebrating.

However, Martinelli backed his team-mate, whose second-half goal highlighted another standout display from the academy graduate. “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.”

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Haaland, who briefly equalised for City in the match at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, had previously been on the receiving end of Arsenal's attention after his "stay humble" remark to Arteta during the frenzied 2-2 draw earlier in the season at the Etihad Stadium. Before Lewis-Skelly's nod to Haaland's celebration, Gabriel had yelled in the face of the Norwegian following Martin Odegaard's goal, and Arsenal fans also didn't shy away from taunting the striker, who responded by gesturing towards the Premier League champions badge on his 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.

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.”