"It's not looking good" - Mikel Arteta provides worrying Gabriel Jesus fitness update after Arsenal vs Manchester United clash

Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has provided an update on Gabriel Jesus' fitness, who had to be stretchered off the pitch in their FA Cup third-round clash against Manchester United. The match ended in a 3-5 loss on penalties for the Gunners on Sunday, January 12, at Emirates Stadium.

Following a collision with Bruno Fernandes, Jesus hit the ground holding his knee and appeared to be in a lot of pain. The Brazilian striker was seen leaving the pitch on a stretcher as he covered his face with his shirt. He was replaced by Raheem Sterling in the 40th minute. The Manchester United captain, meanwhile, received his first booking for dissent when he claimed that he was fouled on top of the Arsenal box by the Gunners forward.

Following a goalless first half, Fernandes opened the scoring for the Red Devils with a right-footed shot in the 52nd minute. Gabriel Magalhaes netted the equalizer for the Gunners with a left-footed shot from a set-piece in the 63rd minute.

The match went to a penalty shootout after neither side could take the lead by the end of extra time. Manchester United successfully converted all five of their penalties, while Kai Havertz missed the second one for Arsenal.

During his time on the pitch, Gabriel Jesus made 22 touches while maintaining a pass accuracy of 92%. In his post-match press conference, Mikel Arteta addressed the 27-year-old's injury and said (via Football London):

"Big worry, that’s my feeling. He had to come off on a stretcher with a lot of pain, touching his knee. It’s not looking good."

Last season, Gabriel Jesus missed five matches for the Gunners in February after sustaining a knee injury. When asked by reporters if it's the same knee as the forward's previous injury, Arteta said:

"No, I think it's the other one. The worrying factor is the feeling that he had. When he had to come off and the pain that he was in."

Arsenal will hope that Jesus' potential injury is not a big one, with Mikel Arteta's squad already missing Ethan Nwaneri, Bukayo Saka, Takehiro Tomiyasu, and Ben White due to injuries.

Gabriel Jesus has recorded seven goals and two assists in 27 appearances across competitions for the Gunners this season.

"Incredible how you don’t win that game" - Mikel Arteta on Arsenal's loss against Manchester United in FA Cup third-round clash

Mikel Arteta shared his thoughts on Arsenal's 3-5 loss on penalties against Manchester United in the third-round of the FA Cup. The Gunners maintained a ball possession of 71% against the Red Devils, who were down to 10 men in the 61st minute after Diogo Dalot received two yellow cards.

Arsenal had seven shots on target and missed four big chances, along with Martin Odegaard missing a penalty won by Kai Havertz for Harry Maguire's foul. After the clash, Arteta expressed his disappointment at not winning despite his squad's efforts. He said (via Football London):

"Incredible how you don’t win that game, that’s basically to sum up. The dominance, the superiority in relation to the opposition and everything that we did to try to win the game and that’s it we didn’t get what we deserved clearly. But there is an element that is about putting the ball in the back of the net that we did once and the amount of situations chances, penalties that we had we didn’t."

The Spanish manager mentioned he was proud of his squad's performances last week despite not securing a win and added:

"We go home extremely sad but I cannot be prouder of my players, the team, the individual collectively what they produced on Wednesday against two top teams it's incredible. But we haven’t got rewarded and that’s the downside too."

Mikel Arteta's squad has another big match upcoming where they face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League. The North London derby is slated for January 15 at Emirates Stadium.

​