By Sumaiya Vawda
Gabriel Magalhães has a knack for big goals- towering headers and close range strikes alike. Much of Arsenal’s rise to set-piece supremacy has been attributed to new set-piece coach, Nicolas Jover, but Gabriel’s dominance in both boxes is undeniable.
Arsenal’s scintillating start to the season has seen all players garner praise, with the odd patches of criticism pointing at Magalhães or Aaron Ramsdale. It is the nature of defending that errors occur, and while unforced ones are concerning, let’s focus on Gabriel’s attack value for once.
On Sunday, the Brazilian poked in Bukayo Saka’s elusive corner to hand Arsenal the victory at Stamford Bridge. His show of excitement towards Saka would’ve led one to believe it was actually the Englishman who had scored. In this calendar year, Gabriel has netted 4 match-winning goals in the Premier League. In a low-scoring sport, that is an invaluable return from a defender.
When Gabriel joined Arsenal from Lille, his acceleration and combativeness were heralded as a welcome addition to an ageing centre-back group. ‘Match-winning goalscorer’ was not an anticipated trait but one which has become a habit. In fact, since the start of last season, no Premier League defender has scored more goals than him.
The 24-year old has displayed intelligent movement, powerful jumps, strong heading ability and quick anticipation in racking up decisive goals for the Gunners. Mind you, all of these goals have come from corner situations, including one on his Arsenal debut against Fulham. His goal against the Cottagers this season made amends for his error in possession which allowed Mitrovic to score. Perhaps his most memorable goal to date is his looping header against Olympiakos in March of 2021. For Willian’s corner, Gabriel’s starting position was the edge of the box. He then made a diagonal run and sprung off one foot, rotated his body mid-air, and sent home a thunderous header that looped over the keeper, skimmed the roof of the net and dropped. This majestic leap, a feat of modern sports science, earned the team a goal in a decisive moment of the European knockout tie.
Gabriel’s non-penalty xG over the last year ranks in the 98th percentile for centre-backs. In a defensive line with arguably more technical players in Ben White and William Saliba, Gabriel’s progressive passing is widely underrated. Against Chelsea, he was the side’s most progressive passer and was only second to Saka in progressive carries. His passes into the channel for Martinelli are played at the optimal time to unsettle the opposition and more often than not end in a shot at goal.
Gabriel, like every other player, is imperfect. His first touch is fallible but his close-range attacking instinct can be terrifying. It makes dead-ball situations much more exciting from an Arsenal perspective. It’s also difficult for opponent’s to place added focus on one player in the box during corners as it may leave others free. So if the 6ft 3in boy from São Paulo scores against you and then tweets about it, know that you aren’t the only one and it’s nothing personal!
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