There’s been some frightening sights in the world of football over the years. We’re talking Arjen Robben cutting in on his left foot, Lionel Messi running at defenders, Rory Delap loading up a lethal long throw and now the sight of Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka or Declan Rice standing over a set piece.
The Premier League hasn’t been this fearful of such scenarios since the days of Tony Pulis, and some may argue that the only difference between Mikel Arteta and the former Stoke City boss is a pair of glasses and a hat.
The Spaniard, for all of the comparisons in jest, deserves great credit alongside set-piece coach Nicolas Jover after becoming experts in something that could finally result in a Premier League title.
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With that said, we’ve taken a look back at every goal that Arsenal have scored from a corner or free kick under Arteta since his arrival as manager.
Rank
Player
Set-piece goals
Gabriel
15
William Saliba
6
Thomas Partey
3
Gabriel Jesus
3
Jakub Kiwior
3
Declan Rice
3
Mikel Merino
3
Martin Odegaard
2
Gabriel Martinelli
1
Ben White
1
Takehiro Tomiyasu
1
Oleksandr Zinchenko
1
Kai Havertz
1
Bukayo Saka
1
Jurrien Timber
1
Leandro Trossard
1
2019/20: 2 goals Arsenal save the set pieces for the top six
Before the days of the Pulis comparisons, Arteta’s Arsenal side were only beginning to find their feet under their new boss in the middle of an era to forget in north London. But they still managed to haunt their Premier League rivals from what we all now know to be dangerous set pieces in the 2019/20 campaign.
Scoring their first under the Spaniard against Chelsea, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was perfectly placed to head home on the end of Calum Chambers’ knockdown in the 13th minute of a game that eventually saw the Gunners end on the wrong side of defeat, courtesy of Jorginho and a late Tammy Abraham winner.
Their second and last of that season then came against another top-six side in the form of Manchester United. Taking full advantage of David de Gea’s poor attempt to clear his lines from Nicolas Pepe’s corner, Sokratis Papastathopoulos thumped home to set the Gunners on course for a 2-0 victory over the Red Devils.
1
Chelsea
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Corner
2
Man Utd
Sokratis
Corner
2020/21: 8 goals Arsenal begin to find their feet
As the pandemic struck, Arsenal – though still struggling to find the right results – began to show signs that their strength came in the form of set pieces, scoring eight goals from those scenarios in the 2020/21 campaign.
For a second season running, Chelsea once again struggled to handle Arteta’s side from a dead-ball situation, with Granit Xhaka following in Sokratis’ footsteps by scoring directly from a free kick at the Emirates Stadium.
This time in far more sensational fashion than the season prior, Xhaka stepped up from range to find the top corner of Edouard Mendy’s net to score the Gunners’ first free kick of the campaign. Notably, in the same season, Gabriel Magalhaes found the back of the net on his Arsenal debut from a corner in what was a sign of things to come.
1
Fulham
Gabriel
Corner
2
Rapid Vienna
David Luiz
FK
3
Dundalk
Eddie Nketiah
Corner
4
Chelsea
Granit Xhaka
DFK
5
Rapid Vienna
Pablo Mari
Corner
6
Leicester
David Luiz
FK
7
Fulham
Eddie Nketiah
Corner
8
West Brom
Willian
DFK
2021/22: 11 goals Gabriel becomes growing threat as Jover joins
If Gabriel’s debut goal was a warning, then his three set-piece goals throughout the following campaign should have acted as a giant red flag for the rest of the Premier League, especially after set-piece coach Jover arrived. The central defender more than played his part as Arsenal returned to the European places, scoring 11 goals from set pieces whilst doing so.
This time around, it was Everton and Leicester who suffered the most, both conceding two from Arsenal corners, with the Foxes suffering the threat of Gabriel inside the penalty area. Meanwhile, the Toffees could not handle the Gunners’ set pieces on a hot afternoon in May, conceding twice in one game courtesy of Eddie Nketiah and Cedric Soares.
Meanwhile, the one direct free-kick goal that season came courtesy of Martin Odegaard, who struck a superb effort to seal a narrow 1-0 victory over Burnley at the beginning of the season.
1
Burnley
Martin Odegaard
DFK
2
Aston Villa
Thomas Partey
Corner
3
Leeds
Calum Chambers
Corner
4
Leicester
Gabriel
Corner
5
Southampton
Gabriel
Corner
6
Sunderland
Eddie Nketiah
Corner
7
Wolves
Gabriel
Corner
8
Leicester
Thomas Partey
Corner
9
West Ham
Rob Holding
Corner
10
Everton
Eddie Nketiah
Corner
11
Everton
Cedric Soares
Corner
2022/23: 11 goals Set-piece threat not enough to seal Arsenal silverware
Having found their feet under Arteta’s philosophy, Arsenal quickly found themselves in a Premier League title race. In a battle between the student and the master, Arteta at least laid down a marker that his side were there to stay against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side.
But despite matching their 11-goal tally from the season prior from set pieces, the Gunners still couldn’t find a way to dethrone the Citizens.
In truth, however, this was not Arsenal at the peak of their set-piece powers. In fact, it was the first season in which they failed to score more goals from such scenarios than the previous season as progress stalled for the year.
However, there were still non-set-piece goals that came as a result of Jover’s organised chaos, with a prime example being Reiss Nelson’s iconic winner against Bournemouth, which came from the phase of play following a late Odegaard corner.
Once again, Gabriel made his mark inside the area, scoring three times, including goals against Fulham (twice) and fellow London rivals Chelsea.
1
Crystal Palace
Gabriel Martinelli
Corner
2
Leicester
Gabriel Jesus
Corner
3
Fulham
Gabriel
Corner
4
Brentford
William Saliba
Corner
5
Chelsea
Gabriel
Corner
6
Brighton
Martin Odegaard
Corner
7
Oxford
Mohamed Elneny
FK
8
Sporting CP
William Saliba
Corner
9
Fulham
Gabriel
Corner
10
Wolves
Thomas Partey
Corner
11
Wolves
Jakub Kiwior
Corner
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Some will be quick to shoot down the scenes of Jover celebrating every time that Arsenal score from a set piece, but the coach deserves credit for his excellent work.
He has taken Arsenal from being an average side from set plays into becoming the most dangerous team in the Premier League. And last season, it showed more than ever for the first time.
Scoring an impressive 16 goals from set pieces, Arsenal caught each of Newcastle, Tottenham, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Burnley and Sheffield United twice in the same game, with sides simply unable to handle Jover and Arteta’s setup. By this point, it was of course no surprise that Gabriel proved to be the biggest threat, finding the back of the net five times in all competitions.
It wasn’t enough to win them the title yet again, but the Gunners stole the headlines several times from set plays, perhaps most notably when Declan Rice found the back of the net to secure a last-gasp victory over Manchester United.
1
Man Utd
Declan Rice
Corner
2
Bournemouth
Ben White
FK
3
Sheff Utd
Eddie Nketiah
Corner
4
Sheff Utd
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Corner
5
Burnley
William Saliba
Corner
6
Burnley
Oleksandr Zinchenko
Corner
7
Brighton
Gabriel Jesus
Corner
8
Liverpool
Gabriel
FK
9
Crystal Palace
Gabriel
Corner
10
Crystal Palace
Gabriel
Corner
11
West Ham
William Saliba
Corner
12
West Ham
Gabriel
FK
13
Newcastle
Own goal
Corner
14
Newcastle
Jakub Kiwior
Corner
15
Tottenham
Own goal
Corner
16
Tottenham
Kai Havertz
Corner
2024/25: 18 goals (so far) Arsenal become set-piece kings
Usually, when a team concedes from a set piece, many believe that whoever is in charge of that side will be left incredibly disappointed, as they’re often seen as avoidable goals to concede.
Arsenal, however, have turned the avoidable into the inevitable, making goals from set pieces a happy habit. The Emirates watches on as if Saka or Rice are stepping up to the penalty spot when they place the ball on the corner quadrant, raise a hand up and deliver an unstoppable delivery.
Having beaten the previous season’s record of 16 goals from set pieces, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to suggest that the Gunners pose a greater threat from those scenarios than they do from open play.
1
Tottenham
Gabriel
Corner
2
Man City
Gabriel
Corner
3
Leicester
Own goal
Corner
4
PSG
Bukayo Saka
FK
5
Liverpool
Mikel Merino
FK
6
Sporting CP
Gabriel
Corner
7
West Ham
Gabriel
Corner
8
Man Utd
Jurrien Timber
Corner
9
Man Utd
William Saliba
Corner
10
Fulham
William Saliba
Corner
11
Crystal Palace
Gabriel Jesus
Corner
12
Brentford
Mikel Merino
Corner
13
Tottenham
Own goal
Corner
14
Chelsea
Mikel Merino
Corner
15
Real Madrid
Declan Rice
DFK
16
Real Madrid
Declan Rice
DFK
17
Ipswich
Leandro Trossard
Corner
18
Crystal Palace
Jakub Kiwior
FK
