{"id":440233,"date":"2025-12-11T14:06:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/440233\/"},"modified":"2025-12-11T14:06:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:06:19","slug":"gabriel-jesuss-arsenal-return-was-emotional-but-he-could-be-exactly-what-they-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/440233\/","title":{"rendered":"Gabriel Jesus\u2019s Arsenal return was emotional \u2013 but he could be exactly what they need"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gabriel Jesus sauntered off the substitutes\u2019 bench and straight back into the hearts of the Arsenal fans.<\/p>\n

After 11 months on the sidelines, the 28-year-old Brazilian striker returned to first-team action during the second half of Arsenal\u2019s 3-0 win over Club Brugge.<\/p>\n

There was much to celebrate for Arsenal here: a sixth Champions League win on the spin, another clean sheet, a convincing victory with an unfamiliar line-up, and two wonder goals from Noni Madueke \u2014 who hit a brace \u2014 and Gabriel Martinelli.<\/p>\n

And yet it was Jesus\u2019 return that added the real feel-good factor. To see him back on the pitch \u2014 smiling, combining, flitting into the channels and dropping into midfield \u2014 was a joy.<\/p>\n

\u201c(We\u2019re) so happy for him,\u201d said manager Mikel Arteta. \u201cI think you can see how much we all love him. It\u2019s been a very, very difficult and long journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor 11 months, he\u2019s been fighting against another very difficult injury, and to see him back with that smile, with that energy and with that quality in his first performance with us is something really impressive, and we\u2019re all delighted for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus only played for half an hour, but it was enough time for him to make a considerable impact. He actually made more touches of the ball than Viktor Gyokeres, who was on the field for the first 62 minutes.<\/p>\n

That is partially down to a stylistic difference, and a tiring defence \u2014 but it does illustrate the degree to which the returning Jesus was involved. He also had a number of shooting opportunities and struck the crossbar.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was expecting me to score,\u201d Jesus told Arsenal\u2019s official website<\/a> after the game. \u201cObviously, I wanted to score. I had some opportunities, but even with that, I\u2019m so happy and so pleased, because to come back and then to have some touches that I had tonight, and then the way I could move, the way I could keep the ball.\u00a0I feel more than ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jesus appeared as a substitute for Arsenal (Bruno Fahy \/ Belga Mag \/ Belga \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The Brazilian\u2019s introduction meant that, for one brief stage of the game, Arsenal lined up with an attack of Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli \u2014 the trio that propelled the team into unexpected title contention in 2022-23. It was enough to make the hardest-hearted Arsenal fan wistful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love him,\u201d Martinelli had said of Jesus on the eve of the game. \u201cI always say that he\u2019s one of the best strikers in the world for me, so I\u2019m really happy to have him back \u2014 not just on the pitch, but outside the pitch as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying with him is really good. He loves to link up and to move and to rotate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arteta is convinced Jesus can have a significant role to play in the remainder of the season. \u201cEspecially if he continues to perform in the manner that he\u2019s doing and the energy that he\u2019s putting in training,\u201d said the Arsenal manager. \u201cI think he brings something else, and I was really happy to see that.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabi has a really special quality, which is that suddenly he connects everybody around him, and that\u2019s something that we as a team need, and it will make us better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 combination of audacious individual skill and natural team ethic makes for an intoxicating combination. The question now is whether he can stay fit long enough to be a consistent presence in the Arsenal front line.<\/p>\n

Consistency is also the aim for Madueke, who opened the scoring with a stunning individual goal.<\/p>\n

In the 25th minute, the England international held off his marker, drove infield and then unleashed a rocket of a shot that kept rising and rising until it cannoned in off the crossbar.<\/p>\n

\u201c(It was an) unbelievable goal,\u201d concluded Arteta. \u201cWhen you talk about individual quality and individual action and magic moments, that\u2019s it. (He\u2019s) a player that is able to pick the ball that far, dribble past people and finish with the quality and the power that he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the manager added: \u201cIt\u2019s about consistency. It\u2019s not a game, it\u2019s two games, three games. It\u2019s when you do ten games in a row, every three days, and that\u2019s the level that we have to hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was just Madueke\u2019s second Arsenal goal, but he may never score a better one.<\/p>\n

He scored an altogether simpler goal just after the break, before Martinelli produced a marvel of his own. The 24-year-old skipped infield before sending a shot arcing into the far corner.<\/p>\n

It was a beautiful goal, on a beautiful night for Arsenal. Arteta\u2019s men handled the occasion superbly, especially considering the unfamiliar look to the line-up. There was a rare start for Christian Norgaard at centre-half, and 16-year-old defender Marli Salmon came on for his senior debut.<\/p>\n

But nothing will have stoked the fans\u2019 imagination quite like Jesus\u2019 return.<\/p>\n

This dazzling cameo has whetted the appetite. Arsenal fans will be hoping to see more of Jesus in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gabriel Jesus sauntered off the substitutes\u2019 bench and straight back into the hearts of the Arsenal fans. After…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":440234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[5407,24937,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-440233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-arsenal","9":"tag-champions-league","10":"tag-soccer","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115701323740919138","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=440233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/440233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=440233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=440233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=440233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}