Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta heaped praise on Viktor Gyokeres following his performance against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League yesterday.
The Gunners travelled to the Wanda Metropolitano for the first leg of the semi-final. They had the better opening half and scored through Gyokeres’ penalty before the interval.
Julian Alvarez netted a penalty for Atletico shortly after the break. The hosts were the better side in the second half but could not secure an advantage for the second leg in London.
Speaking after the game, Arteta was undoubtedly pleased with Gyokeres. The Spaniard said he had a ‘very strong first half’ and was ‘ice-cool’ in scoring the penalty he earned.
He said: “I think he had a very strong first half, especially when we were more dominant. He created the goal and the penalty, and he was ice-cool to score it in the manner that he did.”
Aside from his spotkick, Gyokeres was dominant upfront, winning 100 percent of his aerial duels. He had 15 touches in the game and created a big chance for Martin Odegaard, too.
The Swede showed good physical strength with a powerful run before delivering a cross. Odegaard’s effort was brilliantly blocked, but he could have shown more composure.
Gyokeres drifted out of the contest during the second half. The right decision was made to substitute him in the 69th minute. Gabriel Jesus provided the extra work rate in the final third.
Arsenal have a huge Premier League derby against Fulham this weekend. Gyokeres will no doubt lead the line for the Gunners with Kai Havertz nursing an upper leg injury, as of now.
The Gunners can go six points ahead of Manchester City at the top of the table before the Cityzens face Everton on the road on Monday. Gyokeres will have a huge role to play upfront.
Fulham have been a bogey club for the Gunners in the recent past. They will pose a big challenge at the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal players needing to recover quickly for Saturday.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com