Arsenal summer signing Viktor Gyokeres feels there is “a lot of goals to come” at the club, with manager Mikel Arteta suggesting the “debate” could be ending after a brace in the Champions League.
The Gunners are in some of the best form across Europe right now. In the Premier League, they have six wins from eight and top the table, while they are one of only three sides so far to win each of their Champions League games.
The level of the team as a whole has been good, with a few standout players but most simply performing at a good level together.
But after signing Gyokeres for £64million in the summer – following a 54-goal season in all competitions for Sporting CP – they saw him score just three goals in his first 11 games and would have expected more.
They got it in the 4-0 Champions League victory against Atletico Madrid.
Gyokeres scored Arsenal‘s third and fourth goals, both poacher’s efforts in which he moved very little in the box but found the net. For the first, he untangled the ball from his feet and stabbed it goalwards, a deflection from a defender seeing it nestle in the bottom cornern.
The Swede then anticipated a nod back across the box from Gabriel Magalhaes, and was free at the back post to turn the ball home.
After the match, Gyokeres suggested there is more to come, with the pressure of wearing the No.14 shirt Thierry Henry made famous not weighing on him.
“I think it feels great, to be honest. It feels like there is a lot of goals in that shirt and there is a lot of goals to come. It feels amazing,” he said on CBS Sports.
“I mean, to be honest, there wasn’t so many shirt numbers available! But when I saw that was available, it was a big honour to take it.
“Unfortunately I didn’t have Thierry’s number so I could not ask him if it was okay. But I took it and it is a big honour for me.
“It’s always amazing to score goals and to do it here in this competition, it’s a great feeling.
“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.”
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Arsenal manager Arteta has suggested the debate about Gyokeres not scoring enough may be coming to an end.
He said: “Delighted as he fully deserved it. The work-rate he brings to the team is outstanding.
“We value a lot of things that he does for the team, and it was the biggest smile on his face today, and look at his teammates. Hopefully, this is the start of some beautiful sequences.
“I think we’ve become much more unpredictable. He’s so physical, open, his face is for everybody.
“The way he presses the ball, holds the ball, that’s phenomenal. And then there’s a piece of cake and the biggest thing that we’re going to debate about him is goals. He’s scored two very different ones today and, hopefully, he starts to get some momentum and a good run of goals.”
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