Gabriel's first-half goal earned Arsenal their first win of the year on Thursday, although the Gunners had to hang on for a 1-0 victory at Wolves with 10 men.
The Brazilian defender was on hand to poke in the winner in the 25th minute. But it became a hard-earned victory after Gabriel Martinelli was sent off for two yellow cards within seconds of each other — Arsenal's fourth dismissal in six games.
The latest one came with 21 minutes left after Marintelli first pushed Daniel Podence to stop a quick throw-in but referee Michael Oliver played advantage. Martinelli then chased the ball down only to barge into Chiquinho from behind and was immediately shown two yellow cards.
“I've never seen that. I've been 18 years in this country and I've never seen something like it,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
“We made it even more difficult for ourselves playing with 10 men. We suffered a lot in the last 10 minutes. I've never seen anything like it.
“We put ourselves in trouble with the red card and we had to dig in. Wolves threw seven players up front and it was difficult to maintain a clean sheet but we defended the box extremely well.”
Wolves manager Bruno Lage said: “I'm disappointed because I thought we were the better team. Our tempo was very good and we managed the game well but we didn't score our chances and we suffered from a set piece.”
You can see the player ratings from last night's match in the gallery above. To view the next image, click on the arrows or swipe if on a mobile device.
