LONDON — When you were looking for an idea of where Gabriel Jesús’s fortunes are at the moment, you got it within 10 minutes of coming out of the outfield in Arsenal’s disappointing 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Valeriy Bondar, with his arrogant insistence on having fingers to protect his penalty department, had conceded a penalty that gave Arsenal the anticipation of doubling their control. Even more than that, it gave anyone dressed in red the anticipation of achieving some of the objectives. Mikel Arteta’s team does not play with the strictest hierarchy of penalty kicks, but even though they did their best, two in the series of pecks, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, were injured. Arsenal have been absolutely willing to offer the biggest opportunities in the game to any player who needs a goal to lift their mood or mark an important tempo in the game.
This was once Jesus’ past. The simplest thing is that he would have already left later. After all, Arsenal needed a second goal to calm nerves at the Emirates Stadium. In such cases, they may rarely persevere in their Rejection.9. Without scoring since January, Jesús still does not seem to have completely overcome the series of injuries that have dogged him since the 2022 World Cup. The participant who “changed [Arsenal’s] world” upon his arrival in the summer of 2022 cannot find a position like Mikel Arteta’s heart when he plays with two of them. If Bukayo Saka is compatible, he will definitely be confined to the bench when Liverpool arrive at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. .
None of this is to say that there was essentially anything wrong with Jesus’ actions here. From the outset, he was nothing less than himself, a player capable of delighting and exasperating the Emirates in the two-touch field. Shakhtar Donetsk left Pedro Henrique was going nowhere without Arsenal’s Refuse.9 as a silhouette. It was a surprising miracle that in the crack Jesus had almost as many touches in his personal part (4) as in the opposing penalty department (5). No matter where he is deployed, but even more so off the right, he will chase as much as he can to support his team on defense.
Without Saka and Odegaard, on the other hand, Arsenal really needed Jesus in order with the ball. Give it to him and once he was completely ready to move forward. 4 shots were attempted, 4 were successful. No one approached him for passes in the attacking third, but he was denied let alone able to construct his own shot. There was little more he could have achieved when he broke through Kai Havertz than to force low and decisively during the goal. Riznyk did exceptionally well to deny it.
Jesus never acted like someone looking for a goal, but the frustration etched in him when a cross didn’t come from Riccardo Calafiori in the 47th minute said it all.
Regarding the tone, Jesús’ compatriot talks about the price of discovering the network on a couple of occasions. A while ago Gabriel Martinelli seemed like a player far from the only ones who many expected would reach his 15 goals in the 2022-23 campaign. Everything the teenager did was a little too fast, all straight from a player who was overcompensating in the course of his strengths. Arsenal have become a slow and sick team and Martinelli has become a x2 player.
A worn-out strike against Leicester, his first since early March, and a more impressive finish against Southampton, look at life: that was all Martinelli needed to get back into Arsenal’s groove. Tonight he knew when to inject time and when to hold it back again. His defender had no intention of stopping him. And then it was he who forced the credit for Arsenal, using the infield and right back, a low shot that echoed off the post and the back of Dmytro Riznyk on how to score.
Martinelli could have had more. The hosts’ greatest expectation of a sloppy second half fell their way, with a tempting right-footed pass from Kai Havertz. If that had revealed the net, there would have been little need for those nerves specifically from Arsenal, where they feel vulnerable to throwing the game away, but through the general whistle, they have slightly given up an expected share. aim. Trossard was the alternative guy who spurned a decent chance to win the game, using that penalty too low and close to Riznyk’s legs.
Shakhtar had hope in the agony, David Raya jumped to nullify Pedrinho’s force from the dimension before getting up better when the ball bounced into his field. It was more than Arsenal should have allowed them. They, and Jesus in particular, want to find their vanguard.
