Mikel Arteta savoured the return of Gabriel Jesus on a picture perfect Sunday afternoon for Arsenal, their 3-0 win at Fulham restoring their five-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
Jesus came on as a 77th-minute substitute, his first action since he injured his knee at the World Cup for Brazil, and he almost made it 4-0, surging on to a pass from another replacement, Fábio Vieira, only for Bernd Leno to save.
Jesus, who was arguably the top flight’s best player before the World Cup, stands to be huge for Arsenal as they chase a first league title since 2004, although Arteta said he would have to fight for his place. Leandro Trossard, who started as a false nine after passing a fitness test on a groin problem, got the assists on all three goals.
“Gabi has to earn his place like in any other team,” Arteta said. “We have alternatives … in relation to the chemistry of players and what we ask them to do. It’s a great problem to have, believe me.
“It’s a big boost, the first step today. Gabi said to me a few days ago: ‘I’m still missing something.’ Yesterday I looked in his eyes and he said: ‘I’m ready’. He looks free, he looks ready. To see him there with a smile on his face was a joy. I was really happy for him.”
Arsenal blasted past a Fulham team who did not turn up in the first half. They scored alltheir goals before the interval, the energy particularly impressive as they played in Lisbon against Sporting in the Europa League on Thursday night. “It’s really tough when you play every three days, travel to Europe and come back,” Arteta said. “To see the energy, quality, understanding, the willingness to go there again and be really dominant … it was really impressive.”
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On Trossard, Arteta said: “When we talk about composure and finding the right pass and finding the right colour when it’s looking really blurry in the box, he was really impressive. He had an injury three days ago which could have taken a week or another 10 days but he was really willing to come back early. The doctors and medical staff did a lot of good work to get that. We needed him and his contribution was superb.”