It was a special night to celebrate on Wednesday as Gabriel Jesus became the hat-trick hero just one day after announcing that his partner is expecting another baby.
He even walked out onto the pitch at Emirates Stadium with his daughter before kick-off, who he said gave him the power to score!
“It feels amazing,” he told us after the game. “Obviously the first half wasn’t our best, but still in the second half we did our job, we created more, we kept the ball more, circulated the ball, made passes and then Martin put in two amazing balls in the end and B as well, and I could finish the action.”
It was no surprise to hear Gabby shout out Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka in particular, who both came on in the second half to create goalscoring opportunities for our Brazilian.
“The quality that Martin has is amazing,” he added. “He’s a type of a player that can pass these balls and put you in front of the goal. That’s what I was telling him; I said “Martin I know your qualities, so I’ll go in behind. If it’s open, I go, you don’t need to look, I will be there.” He played amazing balls [in behind] and I was able to finish the action.
“B as well, but I think everyone today tried their best, it’s not easy when you change a lot, normally we don’t play together a lot in the games, and that’s a little bit tricky. At the end we did our job and won the game.”
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Asked what’s going through his mind when he’s one-on-one with the goalkeeper, Gabby brought up an opportunity from a previous game that he’d been looking to make amends for.
“Against Monaco I missed two clear chances, but they were more difficult than today,” he said. “Obviously, I was disappointed that I didn’t score in that game. At the end, I just have to keep my mind clear and strong, work like I work with [coach Hussein] Isa every day and he told me: “Look Gabby, you’re quality, you need to be calm and then you’ll score.” That’s what I did today and I’m happy to come back to score goals, because I have the number nine and the pressure will always be there to score goals. That’s it, that’s the challenge.”
Gabby will undoubtedly be hoping he’s involved against Crystal Palace again as we travel to Selhurst Park for this weekend’s Premier League meeting with the Eagles.
“I think everyone is [looking forward to it], not just me,” he said. “They have a lot of qualities up front, down the middle, at the back, so we have to compete and then obviously go there to win the game. We know it’s not easy, like today, they have quality players, a strong team, that’ll be another war, and we’ll have to try to win the game.”
Lastly, Gabby spoke about how special this moment is for him and his family.
“It’s a special time,” he said. “I had pressure on my shoulders to score today, and then I walked onto the pitch with my daughter as well, so she gave me power, a smile, everything. Then I could score goals and celebrate with my family, and dedicate [my goals] to another baby.”