Arsenal have been dealt an untimely injury blow with Gabriel Martinelli, who was withdrawn due to a hamstring niggle in the first half of their 1-0 win over Everton on Sunday.
On the back of three successive defeats on the Toffees' turf, Arsenal triumphed at Goodison Park for the first time in nearly six years owing to a slick Leandro Trossard strike in the second half.
The Gunners had not taken three points home from the blue half of Merseyside since Arsene Wenger's final campaign in charge in 2017-18, but Mikel Arteta's men finally found a way through after some previous tepid attacking play to move onto 13 points from their opening five games.
Trossard was introduced into the fray earlier than anticipated, though, as Martinelli's forgettable afternoon at Goodison Park ended on the 24-minute mark.
Only a few moments before being withdrawn, Martinelli thought he had prodded Arsenal into the lead, curling home into the far corner from Fabio Vieira's through ball, but his strike was disallowed.
Arsenal had won the ball back thanks to a fortunate deflection off the boot of Beto, who managed to block a Gabriel Magalhaes pass, but the ball flew straight to the feet of Eddie Nketiah in the final third.
However, Nketiah was coming back from an offside position when Gabriel played the pass, and Beto's deflection was not deemed an intentional action, thus leading to the goal being chalked off.
Martinelli had dropped to the turf immediately after his strike was ruled out, and while the severity of his issue is yet to be determined, he appeared to be feeling the back of his thigh.
The 22-year-old was able to gingerly walk off the field before emerging back into the dugout, and Arteta confirmed after the game that he had tweaked his hamstring, telling the media: "He felt something on one of the sprints, in his hammy. He will need to be assessed."
Martinelli's early substitution has raised fears about his availability for Wednesday's Champions League opener with PSV Eindhoven, which precedes next Sunday's North London derby with high-flying Tottenham Hotspur.
The former Ituano man is yet to get off the mark on the goalscoring front this season, but he provided assists against Nottingham Forest and Manchester United and would have been a nailed-on starter against Spurs next weekend.
Since leaving the Brazilian fourth tier in 2019, Martinelli has netted 33 goals and set up 21 more in 136 matches for the Gunners, but he has also spent a considerable amount of time in the treatment room.
A serious knee injury ruled Martinelli out for six months between June 2020 and December 2020, while he missed the end of the 2022-23 season owing to an ankle problem.
Should Martinelli's problem keep him out of Wednesday's clash with PSV, Trossard will be expected to start on the left wing, although Emile Smith Rowe is also at Arteta's disposal.
Jurrien Timber (knee), Mohamed Elneny (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) are already guaranteed to sit out Arsenal's blockbuster battles against PSV and arch-rivals Tottenham. body check tags ::
