Mikel Arteta explains Gabriel substitution vs West Ham amid Man United injury concern

Mikel Arteta has explained why Gabriel was taken off at half time during the 5-2 Premier League victory over West Ham. The 26-year-old opened the scoring at London Stadium with his fourth of the season before ending the half in some discomfort after being punched in the head by Lukasz Fabianski which led to the Gunners being awarded a penalty.

Bukayo Saka subsequently converted from 12 yards with that goal restoring Arsenal's three-goal lead after Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson brought the Hammers back into the game. Following Gabriel's opener, Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz all found the back of the net in quick succession.

Arteta will have been disappointed at how his side let control slip but their response in the second period was very impressive especially as it was without Gabriel. At the interval he was replaced by Jakub Kiwior with Arsenal limiting West Ham to minimal opportunities to kickstart another fightback.

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Considering the fact he was hit with some force by the West Ham goalkeeper, a possible head injury may have been suffered. A precautionary withdraw will be what many Arsenal fans are hoping is the case, though a concussion substitute may have been used to take him off.

If that is the case, Gabriel is guaranteed to miss the Manchester United game next Wednesday, with Arteta on hand to explain it was not because of that. "It was related to the previous injury he had in Lisbon," Arteta admitted in his post-match press conference. "We decided to take him off."

That is perhaps more of a concern than a possible concussion with it clear the defender has not fully recovered from the issue he suffered in Portugal. As such, his availability to face Man United is in major doubt with that huge clash only four days away.

Riccardo Calafiori was also taken off quite early into the second half with Arteta explaining that decision as well. "We have to manage his minutes, and today we had to do the same," he said.