Arsenal stars pay classy tribute to Pablo Mari after scoring vs Nottingham Forest
Arsenal loanee Pablo Mari was stabbed randomly in a Italian shopping centre on Thursday and his team-mates decided to pay tribute to him during their clash with Nottingham Forest
Arsenal's stars paid tribute to Pablo Mari by holding up the defender's shirt following Gabriel Martinelli's opener against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The touching gesture comes just a few days after Mari, who is on loan from the Gunners at Serie A side Monza, was stabbed in a shopping centre just outside Milan, Italy.
Six people were injured in the shocking incident, with one person tragically dying from wounds sustained during the attack - which is believed to have been random. Mari, along with all five other victims, was rushed to hospital by helicopter and is currently recovering, having sustained non-life threatening injuries.
READ MORE: Pablo Mari pictured for first time since stabbing and speaks out from hospital
Arsenal's players and staff posed with one of Mari's shirts before kick off and they planted one beside each corner flag before the game so they could celebrate with it in the event of a goal.
It took less than five minutes for Mikel Arteta's side to break the deadlock, with Martinelli latching onto Bukayo Saka's low cross to power home a header into the bottom corner from 12 yards out.
Forest clung on until the break, but after the restart the floodgates opened. Reiss Nelson, who came on for the injured Saka, smashed home from close-range following a slick Arsenal attack, and grabbed another three minutes later after guiding Gabriel Jesus' cross into the far corner.
What did you make of Arsenal's gesture? Let us know in the comments section below.
Before the hour mark Thomas Partey had made it 4-0, smashing a gorgeous curler past a helpless Dean Henderson from the edge of the box, and Martin Odegaard added a fifth shortly after.
Victory sees Arsenal reinstated as league-leaders after being knocked off top spot on Saturday following Manchester City's 1-0 win over Leicester at the Etihad Stadium.
READ NEXT:
- Pablo Mari says first words after being stabbed in supermarket by crazed knife man
- Pablo Mari was 'with glamorous WAG and four-year-old son' when knife attack ensued
- Pablo Mari's attacker was disarmed by hero footballer who was Diego Maradona's team-mate