Arsenal managed to score another key win in the Champions League this week, taking down Kazakhstan league upstarts Kairat Almaty 3-2 behind a strong first half performance.
Attacking midfield stars Kai Havertz and Eberechi Eze were probably the two players who stole the show the most, but once again, experienced striker Viktor Gyokeres had another strong game up top to show that he is having a bit of a resurgence here in his first season at the Emirates Stadium.
Rival fan bases have done their best to clown on Gyokeres this season, but nobody was joking after the Swedish international’s latest stalwart performance in club football’s premier competition.
Gyokeres scored and assisted once more for the Gunners, adding a nifty three key passes and two dribbles completed for the home side in their important victory over Kairat.
The display from Gyokeres served as a reminder to Mikel Arteta and Arsenal that the best solution to getting the most out of Gyokeres is to get him involved in dangerous situations with actual creative passing and through balls.
Martin Odegaard has been a massive disappointment as the No. 10 this season in this regard, and even though he and Gyokeres were supposed to hit it off, the Norwegian star has actually been holding him back.
Meanwhile, Havertz and Eze were eager and effective at actually getting Gyokeres the ball into space and into scoring positions where he could affect the game or even lay it off to someone else.
Arsenal need to keep feeding Gyokeres with progressive through balls that allow their new star striker to get quick shots off, and if that means demoting captain Odegaard, then, well, so be it.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.