In The Zone: Gabriel Jesus' nose for goal
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
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UEFA Technical Observer Ange Postecoglou salutes Gabriel Jesus' "goalscorer's instincts" after his double in Arsenal's 3-1 win at Inter.
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As a boy in Brazil, Gabriel Jesus would sit and watch Serie A matches on television and marvel at the sight of the San Siro.
Prior to last night, the Arsenal striker had played there twice before without scoring. But with two goals in an impressive 3-1 victory over Inter, he finally found the net at the fabled home of Milanese football.
"As a kid I always watched Serie A and I was dreaming to play here,” he told one reporter afterwards. "It's a dream night," he said to another. "To score here, it's like tears in my eyes."
He made it a memorable night – for himself and his team – thanks to a superb exhibition of fox-in-the-box finishing. As displayed by this analysis, brought to you by FedEx, in a match where both teams had many goal attempts, he emerged as the difference-maker.
"There is a level of efficiency when you come to these places that you need to have and we certainly had that tonight," said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. And nobody more so than the 28-year-old Jesus whose key statistics read: two shots, two goals.
As the video shows, they were goals that underlined the value of a penalty-box poacher.
UEFA Technical Observer Ange Postecoglou highlighted this aspect of Jesus' performance when he said: "Jesus' alertness in the box gave Arsenal a cutting edge to complement their ability to create opportunities from various avenues.
"Both goals were instinctive. The first was from a mis-hit shot that he was able to capitalise on and the second from a rebound off the crossbar. Both are a demonstration of a goalscorer's instincts as, while others are watching, he is anticipating an opportunity to score."
"While others are watching, he is anticipating an opportunity to score"
Thanks to those instincts, Jesus had his first goals in the competition since late 2023.
With Viktor Gyökeres adding Arsenal's third goal, the Premier League leaders left the San Siro with their seventh consecutive victory in this league phase – the first time they have won seven in a row in any European competition.
As for Jesus, he headed home with the Player of the Match award – and with praise from Arteta, who said that "the bigger the game is, the more comfortable he plays". The Brazilian only returned from a serious knee injury in November. This was his first Champions League starting appearance since then. As he said, a dream night indeed.
Having established his coaching reputation in Australia, Greece-born Ange Postecoglou took his attacking style of play to Europe, winning a domestic double and then a domestic treble in two seasons at Celtic, before steering Tottenham to UEFA Europa League glory in 2024/25.
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