The Brazilian blew Nürnberg away in a second-half blitz as he showed the time may be right for him to become a leading man
It took 85 seconds for Gabriel Jesus to offer a convincing enough precis of what Mikel Arteta had sought above all else in this transfer window. Arsenal were 2-0 down in Friday’s friendly at Nürnberg and while that was hardly anything to get worked up about, their manager was entitled to expect a half-time change in gear.
Within moments of his introduction Jesus had seized on loose control from a defender, found a tramline through which to surge towards the box, played a one-two with Eddie Nketiah and scored off the inside of the near post from a tight angle. By the time proceedings ended he had deftly flicked in another goal and, if that is about as much description of some knockabout pre-season fare as anyone can bear, at least the suggestion was that Arsenal’s new £45m forward had not been mis-sold.
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