Arsenal: How Gabriel Jesus chaos could punish Tottenham ambition in crunch north London derby
rsenal’s attack exploded into life on Wednesday and it is no surprise that coincided with Gabriel Jesus making his first start of the season.
The Brazilian looked back to his best after undergoing knee surgery last month and PSV Eindhoven simply could not live with him.
A goal was just reward for Jesus’ efforts, but Mikel Arteta would have been most pleased by the striker’s all-round performance given Sunday’s north London derby lurking on the horizon.
Arteta loves Jesus for the “chaos” he brings to Arsenal’s attack and his return on Wednesday reignited the Gunners’ spark going forward.
Until now, Arsenal’s performances this season had been measured and controlled, but they blew away PSV inside the first half with a blistering display.
Jesus was at the heart of it, no more so than for the Gunners’ second goal. Picking up the ball in his own half, the Brazilian skipped past Armel Bella-Kotchap and set Bukayo Saka on his way.
Not stopping there, Jesus carried on running, eventually pulling Bella-Kotchap away from the edge of the box and leaving space for Leandro Trossard to fire home Saka’s cut-back.
Organised chaos: Gabriel Jesus was back at his destructive best for Arsenal against PSV
/ Arsenal FC via Getty ImagesIt was a goal that summed up exactly what Jesus brings to this Arsenal side, with his intelligent link play and movement knitting the attack together and allowing others to shine.
Arteta is right, he brings chaos, but Jesus knows exactly what he is doing. Perhaps organised chaos would be a more apt description.
“It is good to score goals, I love to score goals,” said Jesus. “It is not easy to watch [when you are injured], you want to play all the time, but at the end you have to go for the challenge.
“I had some injuries in my career and it was a bad time always, but obviously I try to be strong in my mind, to come back as quick as possible and strong.”
Jesus took his own goal well, putting Arsenal 3-0 up before half-time when he was afforded the luxury of being able to bring the ball down in the box from a cross.
It has always been the one criticism of Jesus that he does not score enough goals. He only managed 11 for Arsenal last season, although admittedly a knee injury robbed him of three months during the middle of the campaign.
Arteta loves Jesus for the “chaos” he brings to Arsenal’s attack and his return reignited the Gunners’ spark against PSV
The truth is, though, the Brazilian brings much more to Arsenal than goals and his return to form is timely ahead of Sunday’s north London derby.
Tottenham’s early days under Ange Postecoglou suggest they will come to the Emirates Stadium this weekend and attack, which should make for an open game.
Arsenal have craved control under Arteta, but in the emotion of a derby – and with Spurs throwing caution to the wind – it is easy to see Sunday becoming an end-to-end match.
Such a scenario would suit Jesus, who punished PSV for their desire to play a high line and aggressively press.
Both are characteristics of how PSV boss Peter Bosz likes his teams to play, but in this instance it played into Arsenal and Jesus’ hands. If Tottenham do the same, they can expect to pay the price.
With 21 minutes to go on Wednesday night, and the game wrapped up, Arteta had the luxury of bringing Jesus off, his job well and truly done.
“In the box we were exceptional today,” said Arteta. “We were ruthless, we took our chances and the finishing quality was top.
“Now we have three days to prepare for a big game again, a really special game for us and we’ll try to do it in the best way.”
.jpg.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp&quality=75)
