Gabriel Magalhaes won the Player of the Match award after helping Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1.
It wasn’t an easy game for the Gunners by any means, but goals from William Saliba and Jurrien Timber helped the North Londoners get over the line.
The goalscorers usually get all the plaudits, while David Raya is receiving immense praise as well. All three of them definitely deserve it.
However, Gabriel was outstanding too, and he managed to enter his name into the history books through his first-half assist.
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Gabriel Magalhaes beats Laurent Koscielny’s Arsenal record for goals and assists
Gabriel Magalhaes is not just one of the best defenders in the world; he is also a humongous threat at the other end of the pitch.
The former Lille man is tall, strong, good in the air and incredibly aggressive when he is attacking a corner or a free-kick.
That has led to Gabriel scoring plenty of goals for Arsenal from such situations, but against Chelsea on Sunday, he made a different contribution.
The Brazil international got on the end of a Bukayo Saka corner and headed it back into Saliba’s path. The Frenchman diverted the ball goalwards, and it found the back of the net following a deflection.
Gabriel was awarded the assist, thus increasing his goal contributions tally in the Premier League to 25.
That is a new Gunners record, as the defender with the most direct goal contributions for Arsenal in Premier League history was Laurent Koscielny with 24.
That makes Gabriel the outright record holder, and we’re convinced he will add many more to his tally in the coming months and years.
READ MORE: Gabriel Magalhaes wins Man of the Match, but Arsenal’s unsung hero vs Chelsea was so obvious
You can only choose one: Current Gabriel Magalhaes or Prime Laurent Koscielny?
Gabriel Magalhaes is close to breaking another Arsenal record held by Laurent Koscielny
Koscielny is one of Arsenal’s most underrated players of all time.
The Frenchman was outstanding for the Gunners during his time there and rarely ever got the credit he deserved. The way he left the club made him less popular with the Arsenal fans as well.
However, Koscielny still holds the record for most goals scored by an Arsenal defender in the Premier League. He found the net 22 times in 255 appearances.
Gabriel has scored 20 goals already despite only playing 183 games in the English top flight. He needs just three more goals to break Koscielny’s record and become Arsenal’s highest-scoring Premier League defender ever.
We are convinced that Gabriel will break Koscielny’s record very soon.
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