Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes has come under a bit of criticism for his performance in Brazil’s defeat to Colombia last night.
Loss for Brazil
Yesterday, the 25-year-old centre defender was awarded his fifth cap for Brazil, but sadly, the match resulted in a loss. While Gabriel didn’t play poorly, it wasn’t his finest performance either.
Brazil entered the match at the Estadio Metropolitano as the favourite. As they normally do, but Colombia was the team that was superior by a wide margin.
Ten of the hosts’ twenty-three attempts on goal were on target. Colombia would have clinched the victory far sooner than they did if it weren’t for Alisson Becker’s saves.
Gabriel Magahaes Exposed
Gabriel and captain Marquinhos began the game at the back. Due to the poor play of the midfielders in front of them, both players were extremely exposed.
Although the Arsenal defender had a respectable game overall, there were a few instances in which he might have performed considerably better.
One of these occurred in the 75th minute when Luis Diaz, the player of the match, tied the score. Gabriel’s contribution to the goal has drawn criticism from Globo Esporte.
“Like Marquinhos, he (Gabriel) was exposed and even managed in the first half, but succumbed in the final stage,” they said, awarding him a 5/10 grade.
“He lost his balance and couldn’t cut in the first goal.”
A 5 out of 10 seems a tad severe considering Gabriel’s performance last night.
Not all Bad for Gabriel Magalhaes
With an astounding 93% passing accuracy, he completed 71 of the 76 passes he attempted during his 84 touches with the ball. In addition, he made two clearances, won four of the six duels, and didn’t allow anyone to dribble past him once during the whole match (SofaScore).
Although the £27 million (Sky Sports) Brazilian wasn’t at his best and there were times when he might have played better, he wasn’t bad either; in fact, several of his colleagues were far worse.
Brazil’s major match vs Argentina is coming up next. Whether Gabriel maintains his spot for the matchup against Lionel Messi and company will be intriguing to see.
