Arsenal secured their first win of 2022 on Thursday evening as they clinched a 1-0 victory away to Wolves.
It was a tense game in the West Midlands between two of the Premier League's best defences and it was the away side that struck the first blow when Gabriel Magalhaes converted a corner in the 25th minute after Alexandre Lacazette had beaten Jose Sa to the initial cross.
The remainder of the contest was relatively quiet until Gabriel Martinelli was sent off in the 69th minute.
Referee Michael Oliver decided to hand the 20-year-old two quick-fire yellow cards for two fouls in the same sequence of play, much to Mikel Arteta's frustration.
After the full-time whistle, the Spaniard said: “I’ve never seen that. I’ve been 18 years in this country and I’ve never seen something like it.
“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 something like it.
“We have to go game by game and there are small margins to win games. We have to keep improving. Our reality is the next game.”
However, just two minutes after Martinelli received his marching orders, the Gunners could have scored a second following a sublime through ball from the aforementioned Gabriel, although Lacazette was unable to hit the target.
Still, the tough-tackling defender's excellent ball didn't go unnoticed, with a number of Arsenal fans taking to Twitter heap praise on the former Lille star. Here is what a select few said.
@Iaudrupacked: What a pass Gabriel
@Gravitygunner14: Laca missed that chance that would have given Gabriel an amazing assist!! What a pass it was!!
@afgfootballguy: Yes Laca should score but can we appreciate that pass from Gabriel for a sec
@packedpg: that Gabriel pass is nutty, how do you fluff that shot
@alexfrco: That pass from Gabriel though
@GunnerGlasgow: "That pass from Gabriel for the Laca chance was insanely underrated.
