Viktor Gyokeres’ performance against Atletico Madrid has been praised by Mikel Arteta and David Raya, despite the striker coming away without a goal or assist.
Strikers are often judged on their numbers, with goals the most important and assists not far behind. But Viktor Gyokeres’ display on Tuesday was hugely pivotal for Arsenal, despite his failure to increase either total.
The centre-forward was heavily involved in Arsenal’s opening goal, crossing for Leandro Trossard, whose shot was turned in by Bukayo Saka. More than that, the Sweden international kept working hard to win every long ball he could from the start of the night to the finish.
Mikel Arteta was certainly impressed, saying: “[Gyokeres] was immense. You can see the reaction from the crowd every time he had the ball. His work rate and what he’s giving the team is just incredible. He’s the first one to set the tone, the rhythm, and the habits that he shows when we don’t have the ball.”
But the manager wasn’t the only one who liked what he saw. Goalkeeper David Raya admitted to CBS Sports that Gyokeres’ performance was very important to the overall performance.
“When we had to play, we played, and when we had to go long, we did,” Raya began. “And credit to Viktor [Gyokeres] that he fights a lot in those situations. And he won a lot of duels. That helped us to manage the game.”
Gyokeres did grab a goal in the first leg of the tie, netting a penalty to put Arsenal ahead on the night. He then scored two goals and provided an assist against Fulham in the Premier League game sandwiched in between.
Yet the player’s teammates and coaches know that his goalless performance on Tuesday was just as important, and hopefully he’ll now have a chance to score in the final later this month.
Gyokeres has scored 21 goals and assisted three in all competitions in his debut campaign with Arsenal, his first season in Premier League football. The focus for now is on ending that first year by winning the title.
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