Bruno Guimarães just achieved something Arsenal fans have not seen since Thierry Henry

Arsenal return to action and get back to winning ways, albeit only just. Mikel Arteta's team, for long periods, looked lacklustre and disjointed, putting in a slow performance against Leeds United. Thus, it was no surprise when the visitors took the lead through James Justin ten minutes after half time.

However, just as Arteta was preparing a triple substitution, the Gunners hit back; Noni Madueke's deep cross headed back across by Benjamin White and Riccardo Calafiori was on hand to bundle the ball home. Just eight minutes later, having begun the attack on the half way line, a vintage Arsenal free-flowing move for buried by Bruno Guimarães, and this proved to be the difference.

After picking up an injury during the FA Community Shield in Cardiff, the 28 year old has not featured as prominently during the early weeks of the season as was forecast, but he has now made two telling contributions. The Brazilian spectacularly opened the scoring against Sunderland, very much enjoying his return to the Northeast, before snatching three points against Leeds.

Thus, as noted by Harvey Downes of Opta, Guimarães' first two Arsenal goals have both come off the bench and been match-winners. This is the first time any player has achieved this for the club since Thierry Henry in 1999, opening his record-breaking account for the club against Southampton at the Dell and Swedish side AIK in the Champions League at Wembley four days later.

Meantime, as documented by Opta, since the Brazilian's debut in English football in February 2022, nine of his 32 Premier League goals have come from outside the penalty area (28.1%). Of players to have scored 25+ goals during this time frame, only James Maddison has scored a higher percentage from outside the box - 31%.

Speaking to TNT Sports on the pitch shortly after full time, presented with the Player of the Match trophy, Guimarães' delight was clear for all to see:

"Well, feel unbelievable... today the mentality was bouncing back... this is my first official game at home... I feel unbelievable. Score important goal, three important points and yeah a great finish. I'm very happy. I'm just very glad to score my first goal here at Emirates."
Bruno Guimarães

Myles Lewis-Skelly and Declan Rice were Arteta's starting midfield pairing on Saturday. This though is certainly the most competitive area of his squad, given that Guimarães, Martín Zubimendi and Mikel Merino were all in reserve. Well, if the Brazilian keeps making game-changing contributions off the bench, he'll surely be starting very soon, perhaps even against Lille on Tuesday.

Add us as a preferred source on Google