Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith praises Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira

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Arsenal picked up an impressive victory over Wolves tonight, and Fabio Vieira played a big part in the Gunners’ win.

Mikel Arteta’s men received a huge boost even before the game began – Manchester City lost to Brentford. That meant Arsenal would remain at the top of the table irrespective of the result at Molineux, but they went and won the game anyway.

Vieira, an early substitute, was very impressive.

Sky Sports pundit Alan Smith praises Arsenal midfielder Fabio Vieira

Arsenal played their strongest team today, which means Granit Xhaka started in the middle of the park. However, the Swiss international went to ground after just a couple of minutes.

Xhaka soldiered on for as long as he could, but his race was run. He was replaced by summer signing Vieira, who caught the eye – especially in the second half of the game.

The 22-year-old Portuguese midfielder worked really hard, but his moment of magic came in the 54th minute – for Martin Odegaard’s opener.

Vieira was put through by Gabriel Jesus and Jose Sa charged at him to stop a shot. Vieira very cleverly lifted the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper and laid it on a plate for Odegaard, who made no mistake.

Smith was very impressed.

He said on Sky Sports’ coverage of the game (55th minute): “It’s a lovely bit of skill and composure actually at the death just to dink it over (Jose) Sa.

He’s (Vieira) such a clever technician.”

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Vieira joined Arsenal from Porto in the summer, but his transition hasn’t been easy. He came in with an injury which kept him out of the Gunners’ entire pre-season, but since he recovered, he has been working hard.

Arsenal fans have seen flashes of brilliance from Vieira, and they witnessed that again tonight.

His assist was absolutely fantastic, and that opened the door for the Gunners, who hadn’t had a shot on target until that point in the game.

The six-week break now could act as a pre-season of sorts for Vieira. It could really help him adapt to the English game, and he could explode once Premier League football returns on Boxing Day.