Arsenal suffered a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Villa Park on December 6, but exacted revenge before the turn of the calendar year. Gabriel is delighted to be back playing his part in a quest for tangible success.
He added on returning from an enforced spell on the sidelines: “Personally, it feels very, very good. I'm very, very happy. It was a difficult day, but I worked a lot to come back as quickly as possible. Today I'm so happy to be back with the team with a big win.
“I think we need to go game by game and let's work together. And don't need to think about the other teams, think about us and the need to keep playing.”
Arteta said of having Gabriel back alongside established centre-half partner William Saliba: “He comes back from an injury of six weeks that probably should have been a bit longer, and plays against probably the team that is the hardest to control, especially the front players and the striker that they have, in terms of their movements and he impacted the game in an incredible way, both defending and in the opposition box.”