Cliff Notes – Arsenal defender Gabriel forced off with injury, Arteta worried
- Arsenal’s defensive woes deepen as Gabriel Magalhães and Jurriën Timber sustain injuries during the 2-1 victory over Fulham, raising concerns ahead of their Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
- Manager Mikel Arteta expressed worry over Gabriel’s hamstring issue and Timber’s struggle, noting the team’s ongoing injury crisis, which has sidelined key players like Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus for the season.
Arsenal defender Gabriel forced off with injury, Arteta ‘worried’
Arsenal face a potential injury crisis in defense ahead of their Champions League showdown with Real Madrid after Gabriel Magalhães and Jurriën Timber picked up injuries in Tuesday’s Premier League win over Fulham.
The Gunners moved within nine points of leaders Liverpool, which play Wednesday, with a 2-1 victory over Marco Silva’s side at Emirates Stadium. Mikel Merino opened the scoring before Bukayo Saka marked his first appearance in 101 days following a hamstring surgery by scoring in the 73rd minute, just seven minutes after coming on as a substitute.
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Rodrigo Muniz netted in stoppage time for Fulham, but the bigger concern for Arsenal was the sigh of Gabriel limping off early in the first half with a hamstring problem. Timber received treatment shortly afterwards but stayed on the field until the 77th minute.
Arsenal travel to Everton on Saturday before hosting Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal next Tuesday.
“Gabi felt something in his hamstring,” confirmed Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, who added he was “worried” about the Brazil international. “We don’t know how big that is and with Jurriën as well, he was already struggling very early in the game. He managed to continue, at some point he couldn’t.
“We don’t know how they’re going to be. We’ll be assessing them tomorrow and understand better how we are with those two.”
With Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus also missing for the rest of a campaign — which has also seen Saka, Martin Odegaard, Ben White and Gabriel Martinelli absent for long periods through injury — Arteta admitted he had never known another season like this one in his career.
“No, unfortunately, especially because as well there have been some big, big players in very, very critical positions and affecting the whole line,” he said. “You’re scratching your head. I know in the next few games, [it will be] the same.
“But at the same time, it’s been a great learning experience for us and all the coaches and staff to manage that situation. At the end, the players are going to react to how we react to it.
“If you start to feel sorry for yourself and say, ‘ah, it’s impossible how are we going to do this?’ It will be impossible, but these boys, they don’t give you the reason to act like that.”
On Timber, Arteta added: “[He] was struggling yesterday, but we lost Ben [White] as well. He did a big effort to try to play but he could not continue.”