After returning to the goal trail with a brace against Atletico Madrid, Viktor Gyokeres feels that he’s “hungrier” to get on the scoresheet in future fixtures.
The Swedish striker ended a seven-game wait for a goal by scrambling home our third of an incredible 4-0 victory against the Spanish side, and having gone six weeks without hearing his name bellowed over the Emirates Stadium speakers, he only had to wait three minutes to hear again as he nudged home a second from close range to round off the scoring on an superb night for all Gooners.
Joy and relief was spread across his face as he twice dusted off his trademark celebration to the delight of those inside our home, and his teammates who copied him and showed their pleasure at seeing him do what he does best again. That love was felt by Viktor, who believes he will have an extra spring in his step heading into Sunday’s game with Crystal Palace.
“It’s always amazing to score goals and to do it here in this competition, it's a great feeling,” he said post-match. “I'm more hungry now. You always want to contribute with work rate and other stuff but when you score goals as well, it's a bit special. So that's something I always want to do.
“[The support from his teammates] means a lot, they're amazing. I think the group we have and the spirit is something different and something very special.
“It feels great. We did a lot of things right today and the performance was amazing.”
All of our goals came in a sensational 13-minute period in the second half when the stadium was bouncing, but the game had been on a knife-edge before then with both teams striking the woodwork, us having a goal ruled our for offside and the visitors missing an open goal during a frantic contest.
But Viktor admitted that Mikel Arteta was calm at the the break and urged his team to keep probing away, and the rewards did eventually come as we recorded another win that will make our rivals take notice, and build confidence as the big matches keep coming.
“At half-time the message was to keep going and then of course some adjustments in certain things,” he added. “But I think we did well in the first half and to keep doing the right things and then of course, finish your chances when they come.
“When you win games and you do these performances, it builds confidence in the team. The belief has to always be there but of course, this helps to boost it. We just want to keep going like this.”
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