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Publication date: Saturday, September 12, 2020 4:06 AM
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta paid tribute to rookies Willian and Gabriel after they starred in the 3-0 win over Fulham.
Willian finished his first Gunners game with three assists and Gabriel led Arsenal’s second goal to kick off his career with the club in an ideal way and turn it into a dream start to the Premier League season for the Gunners.
Fulham’s comeback in the top flight was difficult and they had fallen behind in the 10 minutes when Alexandre Lacazette gave the visitors the lead.
EARLY WINNER: Gabriel and his Arsenal compatriot …
“It was really good,” Arteta said when asked about the debutants’ performances.
“Obviously for Willian. He knows the league, the country and he’s very established here, so he knew his performance would take hold immediately.
“For Gabriel it was a great challenge for him to come in today. He hadn’t played football in the last six months and he had an excellent performance.”
The Spaniard added: “Ideally I wanted to give him a little time because he only trained for a few days with the team and physically he has not played a competitive match for six months, so obviously there was also a risk of injury.
“But the credit goes to him, he performed well, physically he felt very good and he was very happy to play.”
Arsenal’s passion was evident before kick-off when Eddie Nketiah and Dani Ceballos clashed in the warm-up, a late challenge led to the two clashing and the need to part ways.
When the game began, the pair took seats at opposite ends of the substitute bench.
However, when asked about the incident, Arteta said: “I have not seen anything, sorry, I was inside.”
Fulham coach Scott Parker admitted that his team will have to adapt quickly to the demands of the top flight if they are to ensure survival, having secured promotion through the Sky Bet Championship play-offs in the summer.
Speaking after the game, he said: “I think, like everything, when you’re a team like us you need to learn fast and that has been the constant message from me since we’ve been back.
“This year we are going to lose football games, but what we cannot afford is that when you go and lose two or three on the rebound, what will happen to us, let it paralyze you.
“You need to learn from it, you need to develop yourself, you need to be old enough to understand where mistakes are made.”
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