What Gabriel did during Arsenal goal shows why the Gunners are set piece masters

Arsenal earned their first win in this season’s Champions League on Tuesday night with a 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain and what Gabriel did during the Gunners’ second goal shows why Mikel Arteta’s men are set piece masters. 

The North London club have become known for their effectiveness from set pieces over the last three seasons under Arteta and the man tasked with overseeing this area of the game, Nicolas Jover, has been given a lot of credit.

During the 2023/24 campaign, Arsenal had the most set piece goals in the entire Premier League with 20, two more than second-placed Everton.

This sent a warning to rival teams ahead of the current season. Still, the opposition have not succeeded in stopping the Gunners as Arteta’s men continue to grab easy goals from dead ball situations with the latest coming against PSG on Tuesday night.

This is a huge advantage for Arsenal and the goal against the French giants in the Champions League showed that their success is not a fluke, evident in the actions of centre-back Gabriel.

Watch: Gabriel played a key role in Arsenal’s second goal vs PSG

With Arsenal 1-0 ahead courtesy of a Kai Havertz goal, the Gunners were given the opportunity to double their lead before the halftime break when they awarded a free-kick on the right side of the pitch.

Even though the ball was a long way out, Arsenal showed that they were still a threat as Bukayo Saka’s low cross went all the way into the net. The actions of Gabriel showed that this was intended as the Brazilian can be seen telling his teammates that the ball was coming in low so they wouldn’t crowd the area and block it.

The action highlights once again that Arteta’s men are set-piece masters and will take some stopping throughout the rest of the 2024/25 campaign.