Gabriel copied Viktor Gyokeres' goal celebration in Arsenal's win over Sporting Lisbon
Gabriel copied Viktor Gyokeres' goal celebration in Arsenal's win over Sporting Lisbon
Viktor Gyokeres has told Gabriel Magalhaes he is welcome to use his goalscoring celebration, if he is unable to think of his own.
Arsenal's Brazilian defender scored as the Gunners pulled off an impressive 5-1 victory over Sporting to record their first away win in Europe for 13 months. The central defender thundered onto Declan Rice's corner to score the Gunners' third during first-half stoppage time as Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard all got on the scoresheet.
Never afraid of being in the spotlight, Gabriel tipped his hat to the opposition forward as he wheeled away to celebrate. The 26-year-old placed his hands over his eyes in a bid to mimick Gyokeres' trademark move.
The Swedish striker was not among the goals on Tuesday evening but has found the net more than enough to make the celebration his own. Gyokeres has produced 67 goals in 69 appearances for the Portuguese side since joining Sporting from Coventry.
That record has seen Gyokeres frequently linked with another transfer, with Arsenal and Manchester United among potential suitors. Ex-Sporting boss Ruben Amorim, who worked with the Sweden international at the José Alvalade Stadium, is now in charge at Old Trafford.
If Mikel Arteta still has ambitions of landing the star striker, he is fortunate that Gyokeres was not offended by Gabriel's antics. The 26-times capped star saw the fun in the action and had a little dig if his own.
“Gabriel’s celebration? He’s welcome to steal it if he can’t create his own celebration! I didn’t know he did that, but it’s fun he likes my celebration”, Gyokeres told ViaplayFotboll following the game.
Gabriel Magalhaes (L) of Arsenal and Viktor Gyokeres (R) of Sporting CP seen in action during the UEFA Champions League football match between Sporting CP and Arsenal
Viktor Gyokeres was unable to find his way past Arsenal to produce his own version of the celebration
Not everything went Gabriel's way in Portugal however. The defender was forced off the field in the second period and was replaced by Jakub Kiwior in the 84th minute after spending some time on the turf.
On the night, Arteta was unsure of the prognosis outside of his star suffering some discomfort before being substituted. The Spaniard will hope it is not a severe problem ahead of Arsenal's clash with West Ham in the Premier League.
"We don’t know," said Arteta. "We had to make the change because he was feeling some discomfort. I was about to make the change for Raz [ Raheem Sterling ], poor thing, I couldn’t make the sub. We had to get him out."
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