“We all love him” – Arteta hails Gabriel Jesus after striker makes long-awaited injury return | OneFootball

Arsenal made it six wins from six in the Champions League with a commanding 3–0 victory over Club Brugge at the Jan Breydelstadion, thanks to a brace from Noni Madueke and a superb strike from Gabriel Martinelli.

However, the major talking point of the night was the return of Gabriel Jesus, who came off the bench to play 30 valuable minutes after his long spell on the sidelines. Manager Mikel Arteta expressed his delight at having the striker back in the squad.

“So happy for him,” said the head coach. “I think you can see how much we all love him. It’s been a very, very difficult and long journey.

“For 11 months, he’s been fighting against another very difficult injury, and to see him back with that smile, with that energy and with that quality in his first performance with us is something really impressive, and we’re all delighted for him.”

Having a different profile from Viktor Gyökeres gives Arteta more options, and Jesus could be pivotal for this Arsenal side.

“Yes, I think they can be more different. Both of them with great qualities, but are very specific in what they bring to the team, and individually in their actions and relationships that they need around them as well. So it’s good to have two very different players there.”

Bouncing back after the disappointing defeat to Aston Villa was vital for the North London side, and Arteta was proud of how his team responded immediately and returned to winning ways.

“That’s what you want immediately after a defeat to win a game,” added Arteta. “The way that they presented it had its challenges, especially when we lost another two players, but again, it shows how stable we are.

“The standards that we set ourselves and the capacity that the team has to win in different ways. Today I think was a great example of that.”