Mikel Arteta says he is “delighted” for Gabriel Jesus after the striker bagged a double to help his side beat Leeds United 4-1.
Jesus has only recently returned from a long spell out with a knee injury and played an hour of Arsenal’s win over Leeds from the start, opening the scoring from the spot before adding another half-time.
And Arteta says it is a reward for all of the striker’s hard work to recover from his injury.
“I’m delighted for him, we all are. They were all clapping him,” he said.
“He’s been working so hard for the last four or five months with a lot of support obviously from the team and the staff.
“Today he deserved the chance to start and I think he grabbed the opportunity with a lot of conviction by scoring two very important goals.”
Title rivals Manchester City had already secured their own 4-1 victory earlier in the day by beating Liverpool, with Arsenal’s win ensuring the gap to second stays at eight points.
But Arteta has urged his side to stay focused for the final nine games of the season.
“Just enjoy the moment we are in. We have nine games to go but we have a training session today that is going to enable us to be better as a team,” he added.
“If we go through the journey day by day, when the gong comes we are in the right state of mind.
“We are really looking forward to it. We have oxygen to grab instead of [gasps] ‘next game, next game’. We go to the next target and we go for it.”
