Why this star was Arsenal’s brighest light against Liverpool

As the late news of Koscielny and Mertesacker’s injuries filtered through the growing Emirates crowd last night, there was a distinct feeling of uncertainty as to how the new makeshift Arsenal back two would cope with both the strength and power of Benteke and the pace and tricky of the inform Coutinho. This coupled with the fact that the pair have less than 30 Premier League appearances between them made it clear that there was reason for concern.

As the game got underway, this feeling was only perpetuated with Chambers seemingly struggling with the more unfamiliar role of centre half. Touches were nervy and a number of misplaced passes led to Cech having to save the Englishman’s blushes on more than one occasion.

However as the game progressed, the other half of this unfamiliar duo began to grow into the game more and more. Gabriel’s surprising turn of foot would have many rubbing their eyes to believe it wasn’t Koscielny himself there at centre half. I myself sat in the pub as he quickly cut out a dangerous brake away from Coutinho, almost drooling over the prospect of him and Laurent playing together at the back.

Could this be the missing piece in the Arsenal title challenge jigsaw?

My excitement of this idea was only strengthened in the second half. Gabriel’s experience began to shine through as he cleverly blocked off a dangerous run from Benteke and seemingly prevented a goal scoring opportunity. Gary Neville could only admire this shrewd piece of defending after the game as it really capped off a solid and reassuring performance from the 24 year old. It proved more than anything that we have a defender who can perform in the big games and if he is able to mirror this in the champions league, when called upon, then we might have a real chance of progressing far in the competition this season.

Of course we know he is probably going to spend most of the season in the shadow of the ever present Kos-Per duo, but I feel, as I’m sure many other Gooners do, that we now finally have a back up who is certainly capable of stepping up to the plate when required.