Bruno Guimaraes just repeated what Thierry Henry last did at Arsenal 27 years ago
Bruno Guimaraes scored the winner for Arsenal against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The big-money summer signing hasn’t started a single Premier League game yet because of fitness issues, but Mikel Arteta turned to him at half-time.
The Brazil international looked like a man on a mission from the whistle, and he scored a stunning goal to give Arsenal the lead in the 58th minute.
That strike puts Guimaraes right next to Arsenal’s greatest ever player in the history books.
Bruno Guimaraes matches Thierry Henry’s feat during Sunderland vs Arsenal
Thierry Henry is one of the greatest players to ever grace the game.
The Arsenal legend is the club’s greatest goalscorer, and he is the reason why many people became fans of the club over two decades ago.
Even though Henry became an elite goalscorer, he had a slow start to life in the famous red and white.
The Frenchman failed to score in his first seven league games for Arsenal, but in the eighth fixture against Southampton, he scored a stunner from outside the box.
That is very relevant to Bruno Guimaraes’ goal against Sunderland, which was also a screamer from outside the penalty area.
The Brazilian became the first Arsenal player since Henry in September 1999 to score his debut league goal from outside the box. (Tom Ede)
That is a very interesting statistic, but the similarities don’t stop there.
At the Dell nearly 27 years ago:
- The score was 0-0
- Henry had come off the bench as a substitute
- Arsenal were wearing a yellow kit
The same can be said about Guimaraes against Sunderland as well – the Gunners hadn’t broken the deadlock yet when he came on in the second half wearing the yellow away kit. His strike from outside the box helped Arsenal win the game.
Guimaraes is a lot older than Henry was when he arrived, but we hope he can have as big an impact as the French icon over the next few years.