Real Madrid ace Vinicius Jr. salutes Arsenal star for being brave and courageous in 2-2 draw with Manchester City

Real Madrid ace Vinicius Jr. has lavished praise on Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes after the Gunners drew 2-2 against Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday (September 22). The defending champions were held back for most of the tie, managing to score in the dying seconds of stoppage time to salvage a draw at the Etihad.

Pep Guardiola's men found the lead early, courtesy of an Erling Haaland strike (9'). However, Arsenal completed the comeback before halftime, with new signing Riccardo Calafiori (22') and Gabriel Magalhaes (45'+1) getting on the scoresheet

Mikel Arteta's men received a body blow right before halftime as Leandro Trossard received marching orders with a second yellow card (45'+8). Playing with a man down, Arsenal parked the bus in the second half, with the home side mounting one attack after another.

The elusive equalizer finally came in the eighth minute of stoppage time via John Stones.

Following the hard-fought draw, Gabriel Magalhaes took to Instagram to thank his teammates, writing:

“Massive effort from the boys!! Happy to score and help the team! Thanks for your support Gunners!! We go again.”

In the comment section, Vinicius Jr. responded by writing:

"Brabooo."

It is a Brazilian slag used to describe someone 'brave and courageous.' Arsenal teammate Declan Rice also wrote:

"U are too good."

For the second consecutive Premier League game, Gabriel Magalhaes scored a crucial goal for the Gunners. In their last league match against Tottenham Hotspur on September 15, the Brazilian scored the game's solitary goal (64') to help Arteta's men win the North London Derby.

Aside from the goal on Sunday, Magalhaes maintained an 81% (17/21) passing accuracy throughout the game, an impressive feat given Manchester City's relentless attack in the second half. He also recorded five crucial clearances and committed just one foul throughout the game.

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Mikel Arteta reacts to Arsenal's controversial red card in the game against Manchester City

Manchester City FC v Arsenal FC - Premier League - Source: Getty

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta dropped a cheeky dig on the controversial red card to Leandro Trossard during the dying seconds of the first-half stoppage time against Manchester City. The Belgian received his second yellow card for kicking the ball away after the referee's whistle following a collision with Bernardo Silva.

Since Trossard had already been booked in the 34th minute, a second yellow reduced the visitors to 10 men.

Speaking about the red card incident after the game, Arteta said (via journalist Fabrizio Romano):

"I prefer not to comment. I was already in big trouble trying to solve what happened on the pitch. It’s that obvious that it’s not necessary to comment on it. I’m expecting 100 games to be nine vs 10 this season if that’s the case."

It was the second time an Arsenal player was sent off for kicking the ball away in the Premier League 2024-25 season. Declan Rice suffered the same fate against Brighton & Hove Albion on August 31.