Gabriel Jesus hailed Martin Odegaard's vision after his hat-trick heroics sent Arsenal soaring into the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace. The 27-year-old striker, who had been goalless this season before last night, struck three times in the second half to overturn an early deficit caused by Jean-Phillipe Mateta's opener for the Eagles.
Post-match, Jesus admitted he'd spoken of his pre-game confidence with Odegaard, saying: "Obviously the first half wasn't our best, but still in the second half we did our job, we created more, we kept the ball more, circulated the ball, made passes and then Martin put in two amazing balls in the end and B [Bukayo Saka] as well, and I could finish the action.
"The quality that Martin has is amazing. He's a type of a player that can pass these balls and put you in front of the goal.
"That's what I was telling him; I said 'Martin I know your qualities, so I'll go in behind. If it's open, I go, you don't need to look, I will be there.' He played amazing balls and I was able to finish the action.
"B (Bukayo Saka) as well, but I think everyone today tried their best, it's not easy when you change a lot, normally we don't play together a lot in the games, and that's a little bit tricky. At the end we did our job and won the game."
Following a scarcity of goals this season, Jesus has felt the heat from some sections of the Arsenal supporters who are clamouring for the club to drop major cash on a new forward come January - a move that might cut into Jesus’ playing time.
Nevertheless, Mikel Arteta heaped accolades on the Brazilian post-match, hinting that he hasn't lost faith in Jesus to net the goals necessary for Arsenal's pursuit of leaders Liverpool in the Premier League race.
Arteta expressed his delight over Jesus: "I'm so pleased for him. It's been a long period for him without goals and today, to score three goals, he looked very sharp. I think it's a great thing for him and the team that we can rely on a player of such quality.
"He brings something. He has a quality, a way of creating and innovating situations that is quite unique. So Gabi at that level is a big asset for us.
"It's now about consistency. Now this is a moment of spark that will bring so much confidence, not only to him, but to the team as well that we can rely on him to change games. Now we need to take it and give him more games and chances."