Since he arrived at Arsenal back in 2020, the sight of Gabriel wheeling away in celebration after finding the back of the net has become a common sight for Gunners supporters.
And in fact, our Brazilian has had more to celebrate than any of his Premier League since he pitched up on these shores.
That is because Gabi has netted 13 league goals since signing from Lille three-and-a-half seasons ago, which is more than any other defender in the division in that time:
Top-scoring PL defenders since 2020/21
Gabriel | 13 |
Ben Mee | 10 |
Stuart Dallas | 9 |
Kurt Zouma | 9 |
Trent Alexander-Armstrong | 8 |
Ben Chilwell | 8 |
Lewis Dunk | 8 |
Michael Keane | 8 |
Virgil van Dijk | 8 |
The first of those took no time to arrive as he scored on his debut against Fulham in September 2020, which would be the first of two league goals that term.
Five more would follow in 2021/22 including winners against Wolves and West Ham United, while three more would come last season, with his efforts against the Cottagers and Chelsea also proving vital to get us three points.
He had to wait until December to get off the mark this term when he headed in against Liverpool, but after also achieving his first brace against Crystal Palace on Saturday, he has scored three in his last four Premier League games.
It also took his tally up to 13, lifting him into the top-scoring defenders in Europe’s big five leagues - England, Germany, Italy, France and Spain.
What makes this feat all the more impressive is eight of those spots are filled by full-backs or wing-backs, with Gabi’s international teammate Bremer the only other out-and-out centre-back.
Top-scoring defenders in Europe's big five leagues since 2020/21
Robin Gosens | 19 |
Theo Hernandez | 19 |
Achraf Hakimi | 19 |
Nahuel Molina | 15 |
Bremer | 14 |
Raphael Guerreiro | 14 |
Federico Dimarco | 14 |
Ramy Bensebaini | 14 |
Jeremie Frimpong | 14 |
Gabriel | 13 |
When it comes to our most prolific defenders, Gabi is now ahead of Tony Adams and William Gallas, and sits in joint-second position alongside Thomas Vermaelen on 13 Premier League strikes.
However there is still some way to go if he is to catch Laurent Koscielny at the top of this particular statistic, who netted 22 times during his time in north London.
Our top-scoring PL defenders
Laurent Koscielny | 22 |
Gabriel | 13 |
Thomas Vermaelen | 13 |
Tony Adams | 12 |
William Gallas | 12 |
Lee Dixon | 9 |
Kolo Toure | 9 |
Hector Bellerin | 8 |
Sol Campbell | 8 |
Ashley Cole | 8 |
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