Just 4 days after scoring against Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League, Gabriel Magalhaes continued to score against West Ham in round 13 of the Premier League.Both goals followed the same scenario, when the ball started from the corner kick and was ended with a header by the Brazilian centre-back.
The strike against West Ham was also Arsenal's 20th goal from corners since the start of last season.That's more than any other Premier League side in that time.Notably, 5 of these 20 goals were scored by Gabriel Magalhaes.Since making his Arsenal debut in September 2020, the Brazilian centre-back has scored 17 goals - the most of any defender in the Premier League.
So how does Arsenal keep Gabriel Magalhaes as a reliable receiving point for every corner kick? According to statistics, 96% of Arsenal's corner kicks have been directed into the penalty area. In particular, Bukayo Saka often takes corners on the right and Declan Rice takes corners from the left.
With the ball directed straight into the penalty area, Arsenal players often move in a crowd from the far post to disrupt the opponent. Then start running to the middle of the goal when the corner kick is taken. Other Premier League teams are gradually taking advantage of this and have many options to counter Arsenal.
With West Ham, the defenders will try to mark each Arsenal player 1-1 in the penalty area. Or like Nottingham Forest, players will share them with each area. However, in any case, Arsenal players always know how to move into the middle of the penalty area and disrupt, reducing the goalkeeper's ability to rush out to approach the ball.
In addition, the London team also arranged an overwhelming number of players in the opponent's penalty area, more than any other team in the Premier League this season.According to Opta, for each corner kick, Arsenal average 3.8 players in the opponent's penalty area, while no team has an average rate higher than 3.5 These players have the task of using satellites, disrupting or distracting the opponent's defense, clearing the way for Gabriel to approach, cutting the ball to head.Opta Analyst described that when other Arsenal players appear in the box, they will try to stay away from Gabriel and separate the opposing defender from approaching the Brazilian center-back.
Typically, in the match against Nottingham Forest, 4 Arsenal players moved to block the position and reach of the goalkeeper and defender.Meanwhile, Gabriel suddenly appeared from the far post, comfortably jumping high to head the ball to score.
Back in round 4 of the Premier League, both Ben White and William Saliba appeared in the 5m50 area before the corner kick took place. When the ball was put into the penalty area, the duo, although not jumping up to compete, forced the players such as James Maddison and Micky van der Ven to mark it, thereby blocking the range of activity of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. This helped Gabriel Magalhaes easily jump high to head the opening goal.
In addition to preparing an attack plan from corner kicks, Opta Analyst also emphasized Gabriel's incredible physical ability and speed of movement, penetrating the penalty area. Therefore, the Brazilian center-back's touches, even if not directly contributing to the goal, will indirectly bring the ball to the position of his teammates around him.
