Arteta & Raya praise Arsenal star vs Atletico

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But the manager wasn’t the only one who liked what he saw. Goalkeeper David Raya admitted to CBS Sports that Gyokeres’ performance was very important to the overall performance.

“When we had to play, we played, and when we had to go long, we did,” Raya began. “And credit to Viktor [Gyokeres] that he fights a lot in those situations. And he won a lot of duels. That helped us to manage the game.”

Gyokeres did grab a goal in the first leg of the tie, netting a penalty to put Arsenal ahead on the night. He then scored two goals and provided an assist against Fulham in the Premier League game sandwiched in between.

Yet the player’s teammates and coaches know that his goalless performance on Tuesday was just as important, and hopefully he’ll now have a chance to score in the final later this month.

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Gyokeres has scored 21 goals and assisted three in all competitions in his debut campaign with Arsenal, his first season in Premier League football. The focus for now is on ending that first year by winning the title.