Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes scored a vital goal, and also came up with an assist, as the Gunners secured a 3-1 win over Olympiakos last night.
The Brazilian was surprisingly selected ahead of the in-form Pablo Mari for the game by Mikel Arteta but the manager’s faith was repaid with an excellent performance.
As well as scoring with a pinpoint accurate header to put Arsenal 2-1 up, Gabriel was also awarded the assist for Mohamed Elneny’s long-range strike which sealed victory. Fans on Twitter were delighted with the defender’s display:
One of his best performances for us excellent all round commanding and composed and that towering header topped it off
— faizanhamid (@faizan_hamid17) March 11, 2021
Who was gutted mari wasn’t in the starting line up why iam not a manager
— Simon O’Callaghan (@SimonOCallagha2) March 11, 2021
He is so solid…Gives me the VVD vibe tbf
— Elton (@KodakElton) March 11, 2021
I agree, he was solid. Won’t start against Spurs ?
— Onyeøma™ (@onyeoma_kelvin) March 11, 2021
Had some shaky moments but came up with a big goal. Hopefully this is the start of a good run of performances from him now.
— ً (@natzinooo) March 11, 2021
Our best defender
— ARTETA STAN ACCOUNT?❤️ (@StanArteta) March 11, 2021
Goal and an assist, solid night for him.
— JB (@JB___Afc) March 11, 2021
Shame he won’t start against spurs.
— Gerald (@Gerald79618014) March 11, 2021
It will be interesting to see who Arteta starts in the North London derby this weekend. Both Gabriel and Pablo Mari are left-footed so there isn’t room for both in the back four.
Whoever is given the nod, though, we should expect them to put in a great performance, considering their recent form. Arteta won’t be complaining about having some positive selection dilemmas for once.