Aaron Ramsey praises ‘brilliant’ Arsenal star and makes Viktor Gyokeres prediction after Wolves win

Aaron Ramsey singled out Gabriel Jesus for special praise after Arsenal’s nervy 2-1 defeat of winless Wolves, saying it was great to see the forward produce a ‘brilliant’ cameo performance.

Arsenal had looked to be heading for a narrow 1-0 victory at home to bottom-of-the-table Wolves after Bukayo Saka’s corner went in off goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in the 70th minute.

But the visitors had other ideas, with Tolu Arokodare heading home Mateus Mane’s pinpoint cross beyond David Raya to make it all square in the fourth minute of stoppage time – the Nigerian’s first ever goal in the Premier League.

The Gunners dug deep, though, and were rewarded for their late efforts as Yerson Mosquera found the back of the net while trying to head the ball clear to send the Emirates crowd into raptures.

The result saw Mikel Arteta’s side move five points clear at the top before Manchester City’s 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday, which reduced the gap to just two points again.

Arteta admitted Arsenal’s showing in the second half was ‘not acceptable’ for the level he expects from his players and the north Londoners will no doubt be looking for an improved performance away to Everton next weekend.

‘These are the games that you need to win if you want to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season,’ ex-Arsenal midfielder Ramsey said of the contest on Premier League Productions.

‘Especially with Manchester City, who have been there many times. Their experience, they’ve done it and you’ve got them breathing down your neck as well.

‘It’s important now to try and keep as much distance as you can between yourselves and them because they have sort of shortened that gap a little bit now.

‘Sitting top at Christmas, you’d be happy with that and hopefully there’s a lot more to look forward to in the new year.’

Ramsey understood Arteta’s frustrations during the match and felt Arsenal put themselves under ‘unnecessary pressure’ by trying to protect their lead after going 1-0 in front.

‘I think it was a very honest assessment after the game,’ the Wales captain added.

‘At the end of the day, the three points is all that matters. But you want to be able to learn from these experiences that you get throughout the season.

‘For them, as soon as they scored, they looked a bit edgy, like they were sort of trying to protect it and that just invited Wolves onto them, putting themselves under unnecessary pressure.

‘The ball comes out, the guy [Mane] has a free cross to put into the box and no one really closes him down.

‘You could sense it, they were under pressure for two, three, four minutes and Wolves did deserve that probably.’

Having come on against Club Brugge in midweek, Jesus made his first minutes of the Premier League season as he was brought on in place of Viktor Gyokeres, who had another tough afternoon.

And the Brazil international – who has been sidelined with a serious knee injury – took his opportunity with both hands, battling hard with Mosquera and causing the Colombian to head Johnstone in the Wolves goal.

‘Brilliant,’ Ramsey said of Jesus’ impressive return.

‘I know probably the amount of work that he had to put in to get back to where he is now.

‘All the repetitions in the gym, mentally really challenging. The hard work is paying off.

‘It’s great to see him back. He has so much quality.’

Marquee summer signing Gyokeres fired another blank for Arsenal before being taken off for Jesus in the closing stages.

It means Gyokeres has now gone five matches without scoring in all competitions and there has been some criticism directed at the Sweden striker from the fanbase in recent weeks.

But Ramsey continues to be impressed by Gyokeres’ ‘work ethic’ and is confident the forward will come good sooner rather than later.

Asked if he expected more from Gyokeres, Ramsey replied: ‘Yeah, you would’ve liked to have thought that, but I’ve been really impressed with his movement.

‘His work ethic is brilliant. I think he offers a lot in the front line, with the intensity that he plays at.

‘The goals will come and I’m sure that he will flourish for many years there.

‘The main thing, though, is that he keeps making those runs, and he keeps being a constant threat in behind because the players behind him, there’s so much quality to find him or to slip him in.

‘He’s going to get chances.’

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