19 hours ago
42
Arsenal star Gabriel has broken his silence following confirmation of his injury sustained while on international duty with Brazil
Arsenal defender Gabriel has finally broken his silence after sustaining an injury while on international duty with Brazil this month.
The centre-back was forced off in the second half of Brazil's friendly win over Senegal last weekend and subsequently returned to his club. Mikel Arteta addressed the injury in his press conference on Friday, admitting the 27-year-old will be out for "weeks" although the full extent of the issue is not yet clear.
Gabriel has once again been an integral figure for the Premier League leaders this season. He has scored two goals and registered three assists in his 17 appearances across all competitions so far.
However, the Gunners did not look like a side missing one of their most important players when they faced bitter rivals Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half before Ebere Eze completed a hat-trick, rounding off a stellar debut in this fixture.
Richarlison was on the scoresheet with an outrageous strike from the halfway line that caught David Raya out, but it proved a mere consolation for Thomas Frank 's side. Arsenal have now extended their lead at the summit of the table to six points, with Chelsea currently in second place after both Manchester City and Liverpool suffered defeats this weekend.
Gabriel took to social media after the game to revel in the glory of a what can only be described as a momentous win. He sported an Arsenal scarf and shirt - worn back to front - with Eze’s name and number. He also held his teammate’s match ball and Player of the Match award, as well as his own Player of the Month trophy.
It was summer signing Piero Hincapie who partnered William Saliba in defence against Spurs, with the Ecuadorian no doubt determined to get a run of games after a slow start to life in north London. That said, Arteta will hope he is not without Gabriel for too long, with a crucial run of fixtures looming in the build-up to Christmas.
Arteta informed reporters earlier this week: "Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury with the national team. He will be out for weeks.
"We need to have another scan next Wednesday. We will have the timeline much more clearly than we have at the moment."
Midweek, Arsenal take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League before another London derby against their current nearest challengers in the league, Chelsea. They then face tricky tests against the likes of Brentford and Aston Villa in early December.
English (US) ·