Gabriel Jesus and Kieran Tierney are among the talking points from Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace. (Photo by Nigel French/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Jesus is back
For a while it looked as though we were witnessing the slow death of Gabriel Jesus’ Arsenal career. Once again the Brazilian was toiling in the first half, looking like he didn’t believe he would be a goal threat.
The Brazilian’s opening goal felt like pure instinct. He received Martin Odegaard’s pass with his back to play, and with a little help from Maxence Lacroix, rolled the defender before dinking over Dean Henderson. He nearly repeated the feat moments later, but Henderson made a fine save.
Then he was played through by Bukayo Saka, and wouldn’t have been human if images of last week’s missed one-vs-ones against Monaco popped into his mind. Jesus finished with precision. Mikel Arteta spoke of a snowball effect in the team when it comes to winning trophies before the game. Jesus, though, had one of his own as he finished superbly on the break when set through by Odegaard with 10 minutes to go. It seems that the Brazilian is back.
“The movement, the quality of his touches, the way he finished the actions, it’s a big, big thing for him and the team,” Arteta said after the game. “It is a big message for the team that we have got Gabi back at his best.”
