Gabriel Magalhaes took the opportunity to poke fun at Richarlison after Arsenal claimed north London bragging rights with a comprehensive 4-1 defeat of Tottenham.
A shock midweek setback at Wolves ratcheted up the pressure on the Premier League leaders entering Sunday’s contest, with just two points separating Mikel Arteta’s men from Manchester City.
But the Gunners put their bitter rivals to the sword at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to tighten their grip on top spot, despite Spurs going into the break level after Randal Kolo Muani had cancelled out Eberechi Eze’s opener in a compelling first half.
Two goals from Viktor Gyokeres – either side of Eze’s second on the hour-mark – ensured the visitors came away with a memorable victory, a result that restored their advantage at the summit to five points.
Arteta’s side will look to pick up where they left off when they return to Premier League action against fourth-placed Chelsea at the Emirates in a week’s time.
Gabriel produced another strong performance at the heart of Arsenal’s defence alongside William Saliba, with Spurs limited to a total of only six shots across the entirety of the match.
Richarlison was unable to make a meaningful difference after coming on in place of Randal Kolo Muani with 22 minutes of normal time remaining in north London – and Gabriel made sure to rub salt in the wound soon after.
The Brazil defender took to Instagram and decided to tag his fellow countryman in a photograph which showed him holding up a number four playing card for the camera on Arsenal’s team coach.
After just an hour, the social media post had racked up over 180,000 likes and 5,000 comments.
The little jab from Gabriel comes after Richarlison tagged the centre-back in a similar post following Tottenham’s pre-season victory over Arsenal last summer.
Arsenal back in charge of the title race
A huge win for Arsenal puts them five points clear at the top of the Premier League table and they remain favourites to win the title, despite recent wobbles.
Spurs are not the toughest team in the league to play against, but the Gunners were threatening and potent again after looking blunt of late.
They should have been well ahead at the break and it was only an odd Declan Rice error which meant the game was level. Mikel Arteta’s men remained calm and kept coming, getting their rewards.
The pressure has been building, but Arsenal have eased it with the result and performance, both of which were excellent.
The link-up between Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka was really impressive at Spurs and if Arteta can get those two firing on a regular basis then few defences will be able to handle them.
It is curious that Eze has scored five of his six Premier League goals this season against Spurs and has not really sparkled much outside of the derbies, but clearly he has a lot more to offer in this title race.
There are twists and turns to come before anyone lifts the Premier League trophy, but the gloom hanging over Arsenal since Wolves has been lifted.
It will be another high intensity affair next time out as Arsenal host Chelsea.
The photo in question showed Richarlison posing with the man-of-the-match award and the Herbalgy Trophy that Spurs had won at Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park.
This isn’t the only time Gabriel has responded to Richarlison’s pre-season jibe, though, with the big centre-half also taking aim at his compatriot after Arsenal’s win in the reverse fixture at the Emirates in November.
Though ‘proud’ of Arsenal’s dream derby-day performance, Arteta was keen to remind his players that there was still a ‘long way’ to go in the Premier League, with ten games remaining of the season.
‘I’m really happy, really proud about how we approached the game,’ the Spaniard said in his post-match interview with BBC Sport.
‘The initiative and the quality we showed to come here and win the game in the way that we did.
‘That is the beauty of football. When you look back at the game against Wolves, how did we draw that game from there? I was out with them every day and I know how much they want it.
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‘This is the Premier League, it will go all the way for sure. Ten games in the Premier League is a long way.’
Arteta went on to single out Eze for special praise, applauding the midfielder’s efforts in ‘adapting’ to a new style of play at Arsenal.
‘He had that belief and I’m really happy with him,’ he said of the former Palace man.
‘He’s really trying to mold and adapt into what we want from him.’
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