"It’s very difficult to control" - Fulham boss claims one Arsenal star was 'impossible to stop' after Gunners' 1-0 win against London rivals

Fulham head coach Marco Silva opened up about Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes after their Premier League clash on Saturday. He said that the Brazilian is hard to control on set pieces, as his side lost 1-0.

Gabriel rose highest from an Arsenal corner to flick it for Leandro Trossard to finish in the 58th minute. This was the Brazilian's 21st goal contribution for the Gunners, with most of them coming from set pieces. Both sides created multiple chances in the game, but it ended 1-0 in favor of the visitors.

After the game, Fulham boss Marco Silva told BBC (h/t Metro):

"When you lose a game, it is always a disappointing one. They were at a very good level. We did create chances to score before Arsenal. They were more on that than on ourselves. We knew it was not going to be easy, a tough team to play against but I think we kept them away from big chances in the game. After the goal, we did react and started to play more in our way again."

About Gabriel's threat on set pieces, Silva added:

"Gabriel jumps so high, it’s impossible to stop him. 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."

Gabriel also scored the winner in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Newcastle United at St. James' Park from a corner on September 28.

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Mikel Arteta opens up on Arsenal's win over Fulham ahead of Atletico Madrid clash

The Gunners have won their last five games across competitions, keeping a clean sheet in the last three. Against Fulham, they had 63% possession and made 16 attempts, with five being on target, as compared to the hosts' 0/9 attempts on target.

Arsenal will next face Atletico Madrid at the Emirates in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, October 21. Highlighting the importance of the win over Fulham ahead of the big clash, Mikel Arteta said (via Arsenal.com):

"You have to play the best in relation to the opponent and the place that you have to play, that's what we have to play. The best against Atletico Madrid is going to be different to the best of today and make sure that we are able to take the game into those areas that is going to favour our possibility to win the game and we continue to try to improve."

The Gunners sit atop the Premier League table, three points above Manchester City and four above Liverpool, who have a game in hand.