Micah Richards has lavished praise on Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus following his man-of-the-match performance against Leicester City.
The fixture saw the Brazilian international bag a brace while creating two more as Mikel Arteta’s men ran out 4-2 winners. He subsequently became the first Arsenal player to score more than once on his home Premier League debut. On top of that, not since Theo Walcott against Newcastle in December 2012 (three goals and two assists) had a Gunner been this prodicutive.
On the opening week 2-0 win over Crystal Palace the former City man equalled his record for most completed take-ons (6) in a single Premier League game. Jesus blanked in that outing but he’s since made up for it with Arteta saying he wouldn’t like to play against him afterwards. Playing in a preferred central role Jesus is six goals away from equalling last season’s Premier League output. Richards, watching from afar, sees a reinvigorated Jesus and one he is happy to watch succeed.
“He was sensational. Everything he did was brilliant,” he said on Match of the Day.
“I watched him at Manchester City, but at Arsenal he seems a different player. He seems a lot more confident. He was so unlucky not to get his hat-trick. He’s got everything in his game.
“He popped up in so many positions, he’s alert in the box. His all-round game was brilliant. I’m just happy for him because at Man City he gave so much in terms of work rate, but now it feels he is the main man. A great day for him, it really was.”