Viktor Gyokeres’ behaviour leaves Alan Shearer in no doubt about Arsenal’s new striker

Arsenal’s summer signing Viktor Gyokeres got off the mark for his new club on Saturday, scoring a brace in the Gunners’ 5-0 thrashing of Leeds United

Alan Shearer has hailed Viktor Gyokeres’ self-belief and confidence to score a penalty in Arsenal’s 5-0 domination of Leeds United on Saturday. The Gunners expertly dispatched of the Premier League newcomers with goals from Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka and their new Swedish striker.

Gyokeres scored Arsenal’s third with a mazy run into the box and shot tucked into the bottom left corner. After Max Dowman was fouled in the penalty area in stoppage time, the 27-year-old stepped up to take the spot kick, slotting his effort home. Shearer has since commended Gyokeres’ confidence to step up to the plate at the Emirates on the Rest is Football podcast.

He said: “Do you know what was even more impressive for me? It was him getting, him grabbing a hold of the ball and going for the penalty.”

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Nodding in agreement, co-host Gary Lineker replied: “I loved that too. Strikers! You’ve got to, what a chance [a penalty]. When you are a striker, that is your best possible opportunity to score.

Shearer continued: “I’m not sure he would’ve [gone for the penalty] if Saka had been on, then he might not have been on it. But I just thought, ‘Yeah, great, go and go and take the penalty.’ You’ve already got one [goal].

“And you’re right, we know what it’s like to get off to a decent [start]. I mean, last weekend he would’ve been thinking, ‘Oh God, that wasn’t what I wanted, it didn’t go the way it should’ve and what I had planned at Old Trafford.’

“But then, you’re at home and you’ve scored one really good goal and then the belief and the confidence [to say], ‘Give me the penalty.’ And then I mean, he would have been on top of the world last night, and I bet he cannot wait for the next game.”

Gyokeres hailed his team’s efforts after their second win of the season. Speaking post-match, the goalscorer said: “It felt good. It was nice to get 90 minutes, of course, to get the rhythm going and play with the guys even more. I think it was a good game overall.

“I felt good today, of course, scoring two and the team scoring five. I think that showed that we can be a massive threat going forward because we have a lot of great players attacking, but also, of course, it’s very important with the defending as well. I think we pressed very good today and didn’t give them much time on the ball. I think we deserved this win today.

“I think we started off well, had a couple of chances. We scored two in the first half, and I had a good chance in the first half that I should have scored. We just kept going in the second half, and of course, it was a great feeling to score early on.

“It was amazing to feel that support from minute one to the end. It gives you that extra energy to keep going and of course, to win 5-0 and keep another clean sheet was great.”

Next up for Gyokeres and the Gunners is a trip to Anfield to take on reigning Premier League champions Liverpool. The blockbuster match will kick off at 4:30pm on Sunday, August 30.

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