Martin Keown says Arsenal star is already a ‘legend of the football club’ after Everton win

Martin Keown hailed Gabriel Magalhaes as a ‘legend of the football club’ after Arsenal’s Premier League win over Everton.

The Gunners took full advantage of Manchester City’s defeat at Aston Villa earlier in the day by beating Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal summer signing Ezri Konsa poked Arsenal in front after just seven minutes before his centre-back partner Gabriel put the game to bed with a 68th-minute header.

The win was Arsenal’s third in a row in the Premier League and saw Mikel Arteta’s side join Man City at the top of the table on 21 points.

Keown reserved special praise for Gabriel and Konsa after Arsenal’s victory, describing the former as a ‘legend of the football club’ and the latter as an ‘outstanding signing’.

‘Gabriel is into his sixth season at Arsenal now and this guy is just a machine,’ Keown said on BBC’s Match of the Day.

‘You rarely see a striker get the better of him. I’ve seen him mature a lot and become the leader at the back. He was immense again today.

‘He just loves defending and the fans just buzz of him. He’s a legend of the football club now.’

Turning his attentions to England international Konsa, who joined Arsenal in a £55m deal from Aston Villa, Keown added: ‘I’ve got so much admiration for him and how he’s come into the club, he’s been a great signing.

‘They already had a number of great central defenders but him coming into the team has been seamless. He’s been magnificent, it’s a really outstanding signing for Arsenal.

‘You look at that partnership with Gabriel, I don’t see a better one in the Premier League right now. Gabriel and Saliba are two of the best defenders in the world but he’s come in and not been overshadowed at all.’

Asked whether it was important even at this early stage of the season for Arsenal to draw level with likely title rivals Man City, Keown said: ‘Oh, absolutely it is.

‘You don’t want a gap to open up so these are valuable points. Arsenal have so many games coming up so it’s important to keep pace with Man City.’

Arteta described Arsenal’s win over Everton as ‘big’ and was glad his side ended a testing week which saw them travel to Bayern Munich on a high.

‘It’s a big win for us,’ the Gunners boss said. ‘It was a tough week with the schedule we had to go through, a lot of minutes and the games were coming thick and fast.

‘We knew we had a very good opponent in front of us but, overall, we had a good performance and fully deserved to win.’

Meanwhile, Konsa heaped praise on Arsenal teammate Gabriel after his influential performance on his 200th Premier League appearances.

‘I’m very pleased for him,’ Konsa said. ‘He’s a top, top player and a top human being.

‘Very happy for him. He’s my life easy since I’ve joined the club and it’s been a pleasure playing alongside him.’

Arsenal return to action on Tuesday night, facing League Two strugglers Fleetwood Town in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.

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