Viktor Gyokeres looks like a slightly worse signing after Arsenal vs Crystal Palace

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Arsenal got past Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup semi-finals on Tuesday evening, but they didn’t make things easy for themselves.

Indeed, a last-minute goal by Marc Guehi meant the Gunners had to go all the way to penalties to set up their semi-final clash against Chelsea in 2026.

However, once the game went to penalties, Arsenal, genuinely, looked unbeatable.

Indeed, Arsenal netted all eight of their penalty attempts on the night, and, to be honest, most of them were truly unstoppable.

This barrage of penalties were all dispatched perfectly, with each one finding the corner with tons of power, making them almost unstoppable.

It was great to see Arsenal so confident from the spot, especially after being eliminated from the FA Cup on penalties last season.

However, this shootout triumph perhaps doesn’t reflect well on one Arsenal player.

Viktor Gyokeres looks slightly worse after Arsenal penalty shootout

Viktor Gyokeres has had a tough start to life at Arsenal.

The striker hasn’t quite adapted to the Premier League just yet, and he’s scored just five league goals so far this season.

Of those five goals, two of those strikes were penalties as well.

Of course, penalties are just as valuable as any goal, and there is a talent attached to being able to score from the spot, and, in fact, Gyokeres was hailed for his penalty ability upon joining Arsenal.

However, as much as penalty taking ability is a weapon of Gyokeres’, the Palace shootout showcased that this particular weapon isn’t as important as some may make out.

Arsenal showed on Tuesday that they have at least eight players who are capable of taking brilliant penalties, and after a slow start, another of Gyokeres’ key attributes now looks irrelevant.

Arsenal players’ penalty records

Arsenal have numerous fantastic penalty takers, as we saw on Tuesday, but there are four players who have, most often, taken up penalty duty away from shootouts.

Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz have all, at one time or another, functioned as penalty takers for Arsenal.

Who should be Arsenal’s full-time penalty taker?

Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz are all more than capable

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Comparing the four players’ records makes for interesting reading.

Gyokeres is the best of the bunch, but, in all honesty, there’s not much in it.

Yes, having a striker who can score 90% of his penalties is very useful, but it’s hardly groundbreaking in a team with so many spot kick aficionados.

Gyokeres has been underwhelming so far, and it’s been a pair of penalty goals that have propped his stats up, but, as we saw on Tuesday, good penalty takers are ten a penny at Arsenal right now, so that attribute may not actually be as valuable as we thought.