Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has lifted the lid on his recovery process after returning to the starting line-up following his knee injury
Arsenal frontman Gabriel Jesus delivered a hugely impressive performance during Wednesday night’s 4-0 UEFA Champions League victory against PSV Eindhoven. The Gunners dominated on their return to Europe’s elite competition, taking the lead after just eight minutes when Bukayo Saka poked home from close range.
Fellow forwards Leandro Trossard and Jesus then chipped in before half-time whilst club captain Martin Odegaard added a fourth with a little under 20 minutes left to play. Jesus was arguably the best player on the night, constantly causing chaos for the PSV defence, dragging players out of position and linking up well with his teammates.
It was the Brazilian international’s first start of the 2023/24 campaign, having missed the opening part of the season due to a knee injury. But he had made a few substitute appearances before Wednesday evening’s start, including a superb cameo during the 3-1 victory against Manchester United earlier this month – a game that saw him score a stunning goal to wrap up the three points in the 102nd minute.
After the full-time whistle last night, the former Manchester City forward spoke to Arsenal icon Thierry Henry about returning to full fitness, something that is crucial ahead of Sunday’s highly-anticipated North London Derby. When asked about the difficulty of returning after being injured, the 26-year-old told CBS Sports: “It was a good warm-up (on Man United goal).
“It’s so hard. You guys play the game. I had some injuries in my career and they were bad times, always. But I try to be strong in my mind, to come back as quickly as possible and stronger.
“It’s not easy to watch. You want to play all the time. But at the end you have to go for the challenge. That is the football player’s life. Also, it’s good to score goals. I love to score goals. I try.
“It was a good goal against United, the first one, finally. Then, tonight, we played good and won the game – that is the most important thing.”
