Just four days after scoring against Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Champions League, Gabriel Magalhaes scored again against West Ham in round 13 of the Premier League.Both goals followed the same scenario, when the ball started from a corner and was finished by a header from the Brazilian centre-back.
The goal against West Ham was also Arsenal's 20th goal from corner kicks since the start of last season.This is more than any other team in the Premier League in the same period.Notably, 5 of these 20 goals were scored by Gabriel Magalhaes with his head.Since his debut for Arsenal in September 2020, the Brazilian centre-back has scored 17 goals - the most of any defender in the Premier League.
So how do Arsenal make Gabriel Magalhaes a reliable receiver for every corner kick? According to statistics, 96% of Arsenal's corners are directed into the penalty area. Of these, Bukayo Saka often takes corners from the right and Declan Rice takes corners from the left.
With the ball being directed straight into the box, Arsenal players often move in a crowd from the far post to confuse the opposition. Then start running towards the middle of the goal when the corner is taken. Other Premier League teams have gradually caught on to this and have many counter-measures against Arsenal.
With West Ham, the defenders will try to mark each Arsenal player 1-on-1 in the penalty area. Or like Nottingham Forest, the players will split up to mark each area. However, either way, Arsenal players always know how to move into the middle of the penalty area and disrupt the goalkeeper's ability to get out to 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, in each corner situation, Arsenal had an average of 3.8 players in the opponent's penalty area, while no other team had an average higher than 3.5.
These players have the task of acting as satellites, disrupting or distracting the opponent's defense, clearing the way for Gabriel to approach and head the ball.Opta Analyst describes that other Arsenal players, when appearing in the penalty area, will try to distance themselves from Gabriel and divide the opponent's defenders from approaching the Brazilian center-back.
Typically, in the match against Nottingham Forest, 4 Arsenal players moved to block the position and accessibility of the goalkeeper and the opponent's defenders.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 were in the six-yard box before the corner kick. When the ball was played into the box, the duo did not jump up to challenge for the ball, but forced the players marking them, James Maddison and Micky van der Ven, to follow, thereby blocking the range of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. This allowed Gabriel Magalhaes to 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 and penetration into the penalty area. Therefore, the Brazilian center-back's touches, even if they do not directly lead to goals, will indirectly bring the ball to the position of his teammates around him.
