Gabriel’s headed goals stats are hugely impressive

Arsenal maintained pace on leaders Manchester City with a 1-0 win over rivals Tottenham in the north London derby on Sunday afternoon, keeping the gap between the top two to just two points with four games played after City came from a goal behind to defeat Brentford 2-1 at the Etihad. 

In a match which looked poised to pose plenty of challenges to Mikel Arteta’s title-starved side, there was little to separate the two teams after 90 minutes. Spurs enjoyed the lion share of possession throughout the contest, dwarfing the Gunners’ total of 36% to 64%, and made 212 more passes whilst also registering more than double their amount of shots at goal (15 vs 7). Despite that, the hosts could not find an opening, struggling to penetrate Arsenal’s well-organised and resilient defence. 

After a goalless hour of football, it always felt as though if the deadlock was going to be broken then there was a strong chance it was going to come via a set piece – and if that proved to be the case, the odds were stacked firmly against Ange Postecoglou’s side. 

Arsenal are one of the best teams in the world from corners and free-kicks – scoring 24 since the start of the 2023-24 campaign – and Tottenham have long been one of the poorest at defending them, conceding 18 since the beginning of last season; only Nottingham Forest (23) have a worst record. 

This was highlighted pertinently when Bukayo Saka delivered a delightfully trademark in-swinging corner on 64 minutes. Christian Romero – who up until that point had enjoyed a very solid game – lost his marker and Gabriel Magalhães thumped home a bullet header from close range.

It was a stark reminder of just how lethal the Gunners are from set plays, and another example of how much work Spurs still have left to do to rectify the achilles heel which has plagued them in recent years. Arguments can be made that Vicario was not strong enough off his line and should have claimed the ball from the onrushing Brazilian’s path. There is a solid point in that, but Romero’s negligence was the main contributing factor to another disappointing goal which certainly could – and probably should – have been avoided. 

Such arguments should not take anything away from the header, however. Gabriel’s run was timed to perfection and his execution was faultless. The 26-year-old is a goliath at the heart of Arsenal’s defence, relentless in his quest for clean sheets alongside the equally impressive William Saliba, but it is his ability at the top end of the pitch which sets him aside from many of his peers.

The South American has now scored 15 Premier League goals for the north Londoners and 10 of those have been headers. In total, 66.7% of Gabriel’s Premier League goals have come courtesy of his head. 

This rate, however impressive, is still lower than that of 22 other players who have scored at least 10 goals in the competition. Newcastle’s Jamaal Lascelles is the only player among those names to have scored all of his Premier League goals via a header (10/10), as per theanalyst.com, while Kurt Zouma’s record of 14 headed goals (93.3%) is the division’s second-best return.

Image: theanalyst.com

Still only 26 years of age, Gabriel still has plenty of time to carve his name into the exclusive top 10 list, which also features the likes of Nemanja Vidic (80%) and Sami Hyypia (77.3%). As a Southampton supporter who has watched all four of my beloved team’s opening matches, I am fearful his tally may well be bolstered on October 5th…

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