Set-piece geniuses or Wayne Rooney copycats? Man Utd legend & current Plymouth boss makes Arsenal goal claim

No side can match the Gunners when it comes to dead-ball output since the beginning of last season, with Mikel Arteta’s side finding the target from 23 set-pieces – including 16 corners. They have found a way of terrorising opposition defences in an important area of the game.

Rooney, though, has suggested that Arteta and his coaching team have been taking inspiration from the blueprint that he put in place when calling the shots at Derby – with Gabriel’s recent effort against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium bearing a striking resemblance to a goal that the Rams scored under Rooney’s stewardship against Middlesbrough back in February 2021.

United icon Rooney, who is now in charge of Championship side Plymouth, has told The Overlap podcast from Sky Bet: “Set pieces are so important, the amount of matches won or lost by them is huge. One of the coaches does it then I come in with some weird ideas. The Arsenal one they scored with, I did that four years ago against Middlesbrough and we scored from it.”

Arsenal scored against City when lining up a cluster of players at the far post, before seeing them flood the six-yard box and allow Gabriel to storm in from the penalty spot. While Rooney can see similarities to his approach, the Gunners have been reaping the rewards of adding set-piece coach Nicolas Jover to their backroom team.