Fulham manager Marco Silva picked out one Arsenal player who he thinks is "impossible to stop" following their 1-0 loss to the Gunners. And while Bukayo Saka enjoyed a fruitful afternoon against the Cottagers, the Portuguese head coach opted for someone different.
Mikel Arteta's side faced a stern test in west London on Saturday night, with Fulham making the lives of opposition players difficult. Despite the Gunners having 16 shots during the match, they struggled to find a way past Bernd Leno and the hosts' backline.
Saka had a penalty claim overturned by VAR, and striker Viktor Gyokeres also might have won a spot kick for his side. But in the end, Leandro Trossard poked home a corner from close range to send Arsenal three points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table.
Silva: Gabriel 'Difficult to Control'
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes
Premier League - Fulham v Arsenal - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - October 18, 2025 Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes reacts REUTERS/David Klein
It was a flick-on from Gabriel at the near post that ultimately led to the corner making its way through to Trossard for the only goal of the match. The Brazilian's threat from set-pieces has proven to be a problem for many Premier League sides this season, with his height and jumping ability making him difficult to stop.
And speaking to BBC Sport following the match, Silva echoed that sentiment, stating that his side found it "impossible to stop" Gabriel in the build-up to the goal. That was despite Fulham identifying him as Arsenal's big threat and studying how to limit his influence from corners and free-kicks.
"Gabriel jumps so high, it’s impossible to stop him," the Fulham manager said. "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."
Silva continued to voice his frustrations over Arsenal's goal in his post-match press conference. He said: "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 percent 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."