Viktor Gyokeres can’t escape criticism as he continues to adapt to life at Arsenal, but he has a fan in Alan Shearer.
If there’s one figure who knows a thing or two about scoring goals in the Premier League, it’s Shearer.
The Premier League’s record goalscorer watched on as Gyokeres scored his fifth league goal for Arsenal, netting a penalty against Everton.
It was smart to let Gyokeres take the penalty, as usually, it would be Bukayo Saka; however, once the ball left the Swede’s foot, it became clear that Arsenal have a penalty-taking assassin in their ranks.
Fill the blanks: Viktor Gyokeres’ penalty vs Everton was the best penalty I’ve seen at Arsenal since ________.
Alan Shearer loved that Viktor Gyokeres took Arsenal’s penalty against Everton
From the touchline, it became apparent that Mikel Arteta wasn’t expecting to see his summer signing take the spot-kick.
Saka and Martin Odegaard handed the ball to Gyokeres to give their teammate the chance to score amid his goal drought.
The 27-year-old took the ball, placed it on the spot and fired it beyond Jordan Pickford before the goalkeeper could react.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Shearer touched upon Gyokeres’ penalty, admitting that it wasn’t just the execution that he loved, but rather that he took the penalty in the first place.
“I like that, though. I like that he had the balls to get up and take it, I was pleased for him because it would have been very easy for him to say, ‘No, no, you take it Saka’.”
Shearer went on to admit that he was an admirer of Gyokeres’ confidence in that moment.
“I love that in someone where you’re prepared to put your neck on the line, basically because you haven’t scored for a while, there’s people talking, there’s a bit of noise going on, but he says ‘no, give me the penalty’.
“I thought the way he stuck it away was brilliant.”
There are still things Gyokeres needs to improve on at Arsenal, but scoring is at the top of his list, which he ticked off at Hill Dickinson Stadium to earn his team the win.
Picture this: It’s 2028, is Viktor Gyokeres a prolific goalscorer at Arsenal?
Arsenal know a penalty can change everything for a striker
The goals need to start coming for Gyokeres, and there’s evidence to suggest they might following the win on Merseyside.
During the 2023/24 season, Kai Havertz took a penalty that changed everything for him, being nominated by his teammates to take the kick, which he scored to end a scoring drought.
Before his penalty against Brentford, Havertz had scored once in 12 games, an outlook that changed from then onwards.
Following his goal from the spot, the German netted 11 goals in the remaining 24 Premier League games, proving that he could indeed be Arsenal’s striker.
Gyokeres must aim for higher numbers than those, but for now, he’s on his way, with all eyes on how he responds in the games to come over the festive period.
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