Gabriel makes fun of Viktor Gyokeres as Arsenal double down on greatest strength

Gabriel is so used to finding the net that he has created his own party.

Well, sort of. The Brazilian defender was criticized last week for appearing to emulate the stance of Sporting Lisbon's prolific striker Viktor Gyokeres when scoring in the Champions League.

But he brought the same hands-over-face attitude, based on cartoon character Bane, as he sparked Arsenal's latest five-star performance against West Ham. “We joke about it and he has fun with it too,” Jorginho said of the celebration. “I love what's happening.”

The sight of Gabriel running away from a crowd of bodies with a beaming smile has become a familiar one. No player has scored more goals from set-pieces without penalties than the centre-back's 17 since entering the league four years ago.

Three convincing wins in eight days have brought Arsenal back to life and the key – apart from captain Martin Odegaard returning from injury – is doubling their biggest strength. And while Gabriel gets a lot of the credit, it's truly a team effort. A lot of it comes from coach Nicolas Jover's plans.

Almost all of Arsenal's corners are inswingers that land near the six-yard box. But opponents remain fooled when it comes to tracking the runners. It helps to provide the team with towering figures like 6-foot-1 Gabriel and 6-foot-1 William Saliba.

Yet Jover's inventive playbook, drawn from American football and basketball, has made every Arsenal unit an attractive watch. Saturday's successful trick had a half-dozen players gather behind the far post before rushing toward the goal — plotting specific routes as if they were wide receivers trying to catch the quarterback's delivery.

It allowed Gabriel to easily evade Michail Antonio on his way to Bukayo Saka's cross. And despite a brief nap where they conceded twice when four goals were clear, Arsenal never looked back.

Gabriel also won Arsenal's second penalty to make it 5-2 at the end of a bizarre opening half, when he attacked a corner – although he did receive a blow to the head for his efforts.

However, Arteta insisted his half-time departure was to protect another niggle he was dealing with, and not over concussion fears. He is expected to be fit for Manchester United on Wednesday. Jorginho teased that there is a secret behind Gabriel's success, but predictably added: 'I'm not going to tell you.

“He's really good and I think it takes a lot of work from the whole team. Everyone does their job and then he is a real threat and he has helped us so much.”

Jorginho also felt that this was almost the perfect away performance, adding: “We shouldn't have conceded the way we did, but we can take a lot of positives from this.”

After flirting with derailing the rails before the international break, a switch was turned.

“I hope so, but I think so, yes,” said the Italian midfielder when asked if it is safe to describe Arsenal as back to their best. “We are in good momentum now. We have to move on and focus on the next one. I think having players back from injury and having the whole squad available has made a huge difference and we have solved something that wasn't working. Now it is.”