LONDON — If you want an idea of where Gabriel Jesus’ fortunes lie at the moment, you got it within ten minutes of him leaving the pitch in Arsenal’s disappointing 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Valeriy Bondar, with his arrogant insistence on having hands while defending his penalty area, had won a penalty that gave Arsenal the chance to double their lead. In fact, it gave someone in red the opportunity to get between the goals. Mikel Arteta’s side don’t have the most rigid penalty hierarchy, but even if they did, the likely top two in the pecking order – Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard – were injured. Arsenal have proven themselves perfectly willing to hand over one of the best opportunities in the sport to any player who needs a goal to lift his mood or mark an important event in his life.
This was Jesus’ moment. Only he had already finished by then. After all, Arsenal needed a second goal to settle the nerves at the Emirates Stadium. In such conditions, they could barely hold on with their number 9. With no goals since January, Jesus still doesn’t quite look like a man after the string of injuries that have dogged him since the 2022 World Cup. The player who “changed [Arsenal’s] world” cannot find a role as Mikel Arteta’s striker when he plays against two of them when he arrives in the summer of 2022. If Bukayo Saka is fit, he will certainly have to be on the bench when Liverpool come to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday .Sunday.
None of this is to say that there was necessarily anything wrong with Jesus’ actions here. From the start he was nothing short of himself, a player capable of surprising and irritating the Emirates within two touches. Shakhtar Donetsk left-back Pedro Henrique went nowhere without Arsenal’s number 9 as his shadow. It was no great surprise that at half-time Jesus had almost as many touches in his own half (four) as in the opponent’s penalty area (five). Whatever position he is deployed in, but even more so from the right side, he will chase as far back as possible to help his team in defence.
However, without Saka and Odegaard, Arsenal really needed Jesus to deliver. Give it to him and he was perfectly prepared to go. Tried four attempts, four succeeded. No one got close to him for passes in the attacking third, but he was no less willing to create his own shot. When he was slipped by Kai Havertz, he could have done little more than drive low and deliberately across the goal. Riznyk has exceptionally tried to deny him.
Jesus never quite played like a man in need of a goal, but the frustration that washed over him when Riccardo Calafiori’s through ball failed to materialize in the 47th minute said it all.
Across the field, Jesus’ compatriot speaks about the value of finding the net a few times. A month ago, Gabriel Martinelli looked like a player completely different from the one many expected him to emerge from after his 15 goals in the 2022/2023 season. Everything the youngster did was a little too fast, all directness from a player who was overcompensating towards his strengths. Arsenal became a slow it down team and Martinelli a x2 player.
A sloppy goal against Leicester, his first since early March, and a more impressive result against Southampton the following week: that was all Martinelli needed to get back on Arsenal’s wavelength. Tonight he knew when to inject pace and when to hold back. His full-back had no chance to slow him down. And so he would be the one to force the lead for Arsenal, driving into the infield and landing on his right foot, a low shot clattering off the post and Dmytro Riznyk heading towards goal again.
Martinelli might have had more. The home side’s best chance in a weak second half fell in his favour, a tempting cross to Kai Havertz’s right boot. Had it found the net, there would have been no need for those particularly Arsenal-esque nerves, where they look to be in danger of forfeiting the game but have barely conceded a half-expected goal at the final whistle. Trossard was the other man to spurn an excellent opportunity to win the match, driving that spot kick a little too low and close to Riznyk’s legs.
Shakhtar had hope at the death, David Raya leaping to deny Pedrinho’s drive from distance before rising highest as the ball bounced around his penalty area. It was more than Arsenal should have allowed them. They, and Jesus in particular, must find their sagacity.