Marco Silva has named one Arsenal player who was “impossible to stop” as Fulham lost 1-0 against the Gunners in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Gunners scored yet another goal from a set piece as Leandro Trossard scored the only goal of the game to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League, although Liverpool will reduce it back down to one point if they beat Manchester United on Sunday.
The only goal of the game came when Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes got a flick on from a corner on 58 minutes with Leandro Trossard putting the ball into the net at the back post.
And Fulham boss Silva admitted that Gabriel is “impossible to stop” and “very difficult to control” when he comes up for corners or free kicks.
Silva told BBC’s Match of the Day: “When you lose a game, it is always a disappointing one. They were at a very good level.
“We did create chances to score before Arsenal. They were more on that than on ourselves. We knew it was not going to be easy, a tough team to play against but I think we kept them away from big chances in the game.
“After the goal, we did react and started to play more in our way again.
“Gabriel jumps so high, it’s impossible to stop him. It’s very difficult to control.
“The way we tried to block his run, most of the game, we did it very well. We were too open and left the path for Gabriel. We didn’t want him to run in that part. Any flick is very difficult to control at the back post.”
In his post-match press conference, Silva added: “It’s frustrating; okay, it’s hard to stop. Offensive set-pieces is not just about one, two, three players; it’s about the takers. They are lucky because they have very good takers too.
“It’s a hard challenge for you; when Arsenal face other teams, it’s a hard challenge for them. I think it’s on both situations, not just the teams they play against.
“I think they’ve scored 60 per cent of their goals from set-pieces; it shows their power in that moment.
“The frustration for us is that we showed throughout the game we were well prepared for that moment, but this is the type of game where you have to keep the focus for 90, 95 minutes. Most of the time we did a very good job; in one moment we let him [Gabriel] go with power, the way he jumped was very difficult to control; even when the flick comes in the front post, it’s far more difficult to control in the far post.”
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