Fulham boss Marco Silva believes Arsenal have one player who has become impossible to stop.
Marco Silva conceded that Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes is “impossible to stop” from set-pieces following his side’s narrow 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage on Saturday night.
A solid defensive performance from Mikel Arteta’s team was complemented by a Leandro Trossard goal in the 58th minute, which proved to be the decisive moment of the match.
The goal originated from a corner, a familiar source of strength for the Gunners. Gabriel flicked the ball on at the near post, and Trossard was perfectly positioned at the back post to guide it over the line from close range.
This assist marked Gabriel’s 20th goal contribution since his arrival at Arsenal in 2020, and Silva admitted that containing the Brazilian’s aerial prowess is a significant challenge.
Fulham’s Marco Silva hails Gabriel as unstoppable
“When you lose a game, it is always a disappointing one. They were at a very good level,” Silva told BBC’s Match of the Day.
“We did create chances to score before Arsenal. They were more on that than on ourselves. We knew it was not going to be easy, a tough team to play against, but I think we kept them away from big chances in the game.”
“Gabriel jumps so high, it’s impossible to stop him. It’s very difficult to control,” Silva explained.
“The way we tried to block his run, most of the game, we did it very well. We were too open and left the path for Gabriel. We didn’t want him to run in that part. Any flick is very difficult to control at the back post.”
Meanwhile, Fulham star Alex Iwobi set a new Premier League record in the defeat to Arsenal.
The former Everton man became the Nigerian player with the most appearances in the Premier League. According to reports from the Premier League official website, Iwobi now has 299 appearances in the EPL.