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Gabriel has had a full-on couple of weeks. Fresh from the thrill of his stoppage-time matchwinner at St James’ Park before the international break, he travelled 5500 miles and eight time zones to South Korea, played 90 minutes, then flew another 750 miles to Japan for Brazil’s second match, took the long haul back to London and, before he could work out what time it was, was out on the pitch getting the runaround by Fulham in a bewildering opening few minutes.
Critics tend not to find much nuance when the spotlight is turned up with Premier League points on the line. It doesn’t really matter what is going on in a player’s life or whether they feel in peak condition. It was certainly out of character to see Gabriel with a shuddering blunder as Arsenal restarted their hunt for the Premier League at Craven Cottage. Then he did it again. These were fluffy-headed hesitations straight out of the jet lag playbook. Luckily, Fulham were not ruthless enough to exact serious punishment.
Gabriel being Gabriel, he had only one response. He metaphorically shook himself down, got his mind on the job, reset his innate determination levels, and pushed through to do what he does best: Arsenal partly won this game 1-0 because they possess arguably the best attacker of set-piece deliveries in the business, and his glancing header was hooked in from close range by Leandro Trossard.
The other part of Arsenal winning this game was the resilience they showed in honour of the virtues of nil. Gabriel and his defensive comrades feel glory in giving absolutely nothing away.
This Arsenal team don’t even want to concede shots, let alone goals. Although Fulham did produce a concerning number of chances (and Arteta will urge them to cut out the ragged moments), none of them were on target.
In contemplating Gabriel’s mentality during the Fulham game, Arteta could not hide his affection for the way his defender’s willpower overruled his aberrations. Gabriel epitomised how Arsenal were able to dig deep when not at their most slick.
“That’s exactly the part that I loved about it,” Arteta said. “Because when everything goes well in the first few minutes for a player and he’s confident, and things are flowing for you, it’s easy to continue. Gabi had two difficult moments, but I know that’s his standard. The way he reacted to that and the sense of security that he transmitted, that’s maturity, and that’s the mindset we need in the team. So that’s a really good example to use and that I will use for sure.”
Gabriel’s flick allowed Leandro Trossard to score the winner (Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
He has played the most minutes of any Arsenal player this season. He has appeared in every Premier League and Champions League match, and even got minutes in the Carabao Cup away to Port Vale. It is instructive to look at how well used the core players have been as Arsenal are attempting to set themselves high standards at the top of the table.
Goalkeeper David Raya and the favoured back four of Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori have become the consistent picks, with Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi used noticeably more than other midfielders. Up front, Viktor Gyokeres has played by far the most minutes, lashing at shots and being wrestled by defenders as he tries to find his place in the Premier League.
The Sweden striker may well feel he could have added goals at Craven Cottage, but he thrashed one chance over and saw a couple of fierce hits saved by Bernd Leno. Arteta is not worrying. For Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze, two newcomers to life at Arsenal, part of the adaptation puzzle is about facing packed blocks, something they are not used to. Neither of these new signings were polished enough to find too much freedom, but if the team is winning during the weeks of learning and practice, that sure helps.
Viktor Gyokeres wrestled with defenders throughout (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
As they endeavour to work it all out, it is a thumping advantage to have this set-piece efficiency to lean into. Calafiori’s eye for a strike again caught the eye, and Bukayo Saka enjoyed some thrilling runs, but the deadlock was picked in now familiar fashion. There might have been another dead ball, but a penalty initially awarded when Saka’s run was interrupted by Kevin’s knee was overturned with the help of VAR, which showed the Fulham man got a touch on the ball with his studs.
Trossard’s intuitive knack meant he became the 10th different player to score for Arsenal in the Premier League this season. That is another sign of improvement this term. A performance that was sloppy and sluggish might not be ideal, but finding a way to secure victory means a lot to this team. It is a habit they are content to have.
Arsenal are seven points better off than the equivalent fixtures last season. “Recent history wasn’t in our favour and we wanted to change that, like we did against Newcastle and West Ham,” Arteta said. “And that’s another step — having that mindset and that ability to win these kinds of matches.”
Leading the celebrations, unsurprisingly, was a very happy Gabriel.
