Alan Shearer blown away by ‘superb’ Arsenal star in victory over Spurs | OneFootball

Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes grabbed the winner against Tottenham Hotspur in the 64th minute on Sunday afternoon.

His goal ensured the Gunners returned to winning ways after the disappointing 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break.

They played Spurs with a decimated squad, with Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko all missing the game.

Former England striker Alan Shearer was impressed with Gabriel, showering praise on the defender on the latest episode of the Rest is Football podcast.

“Another set piece,” the former striker said. Gabriel, who I thought was absolutely outstanding, not only for the goal but for his overall performance. He was superb.”

The 26-year-old has now scored 15 Premier League goals for Arsenal – the most scored by any defender since he joined them in September 2020.

He is also the fourth Arsenal player in history to score more than ten headed goals in the Premier League and is on course to set a record if he keeps going at this rate.

Gabriel was close to leaving the club last summer after he was left out of the starting XI at the start of the 2023-24, and manager Mikel Arteta will be glad they held on to him.

He is a huge threat at both ends of the pitch, and he will score more goals this term given that set-pieces are one of the greatest weapons Arsenal have.

The Gunners have the best goals-per-100-set-pieces record (5.7) in the Premier League since 2021, scoring the most goals (22) from them – excluding penalties – and the most goals from corners (16).

Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover continues to come up with routines that opponents find difficult to defend against.

Their huge aerial presence will continually come in handy going forward.