Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres put in an impressive performance against Atletico Madrid to help Arsenal reach the Champions League final for the first time in 20 years
Declan Rice was in awe of Viktor Gyokeres’ performance against Atletico Madrid as Arsenal progressed to the Champions League final. The Swedish forward drew the admiration of many despite not getting on the scoresheet.
Bukayo Saka scored the only goal for the Gunners as they edged past their Spanish opposition, having played out a draw during the first leg in Madrid. But Gyokeres put in a tireless outing to help inspire victory.
And his efforts were recognised by Rice following the game. The Arsenal midfielder expressed his compliments on a social media post by Gyokeres.
The striker posted: “Back to the roots” in addition to a collection of photographs from the night. Rice’s message was straightforward.
“Wow, wow, wow,” he said, along with three emojis that said ‘top’ with an upward arrow.
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Rice was not alone in being impressed by Gyokeres’ work against Atletico. Pundits fawned over his performance.
Former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney waxed lyrical about Gyokeres’ night and praised his all-around play. Since arriving at the Emirates in the summer, Gyokeres has been subject to a lot of scrutiny, despite bagging 21 goals.
Rooney was keen to highlight the other work he also contributes. “He’s been under pressure this season, and he’s maybe not as pleasing on the eye as some of the other centre forwards around the world but what he does is all the dirty work,” Rooney said.
“That’s so important to the team and he didn’t get his goal tonight but he played a massive role in Arsenal winning this game.”
Ex-Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge also lavished praise on Gyokeres, who he highlighted as the most impressive player at Mikel Arteta’s disposal. “Gyokeres, for me, was the best player for Arsenal,” he said.
“He caused so many problems, took the stress off the defence. You launch it up top and you’re thinking can it stick? Can he get hold of it for us? Can he advance us up the field? He did it all for them.
“Those are the performances that define top players, he’s been questioned all season for the goals and all these types of things but the performance he put in tonight was a clear reason as to why he signed for the football club.”
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