Arsenal fans will love what was said about Viktor Gyökeres at the World Cup

Sunday at the World Cup proved to be a productive day for Arsenal centre-forwards. In the early kick off in Houston, Kai Havertz scored twice as Germany demolished debutants Curaçao 7-1 in Houston. Nine hours later and 468 miles south, over the border, Viktor Gyökeres marked his World Cup debut with a goal, firing home the third from close-range during Sweden's 5-1 hammering of Tunisia in Monterrey.

After the game, Sweden manager Graham Potter was effusive in his praise of the Blågult's centre-forward.

""From our perspective, he scored four goals in two games and got us to the World Cup, so his impact is incredible. From Arsenal's perspective, he's played his role in the team and scored his goals.

"The team have won the Premier League and got to the Champions League final, and he's played most of those games, but he still gets the criticism. That's the world we live in, but then you just look at him and you look at how much work he does and how he goes about his business. He's an incredible character.""

Graham Potter on Gyökeres

Gyökeres has very much been Sweden's main man since Potter's appointment last year. As referenced, he was the hero of the successful play-off campaign that got the Blågult to the World Cup in March. He scored a hat-trick during the semi-final victory over Ukraine at Estadi Ciutat de València, before firing home a last-gasp winner to defeat Poland at the Nationalarenan.

He has since hammered in a free-kick during a friendly against Greece in Stockholm, as well as opening his World Cup account at Estadio BBVA. Thus, that is now 16 goals across his last 15 international appearances for Gyökeres. Somewhat surprisingly chosen to start as part of a front two alongside Alexander Isak, who was also a scorer in Mexico, Gyökeres was impressive all-round.

Viktor Gyökeres' statistics vs Tunisia

Note: Statistics courtesy of SofaScore.

Gyökeres racked up five shots, the most of any player in the match, missing one big chance when his shot was blocked, albeit it mattered not, because Yasin Ayari lashed home straight after. Lots of shots and goal-scoring is what we have come to expect from Gyökeres, but he also showed more. 38 touches is higher than his usual tally, while the striker produced four key passes, created a big chance and won two aerial duels, something he had been criticised for earlier in the campaign.

Nevertheless, during the final period of the club season, the Swede was excellent, this particularly the case during both legs against Atlético Madrid, as well as the win over Fulham in between. Despite this, as Potter alluded to, Gyökeres did not start the Champions League Final in Budapest, with Havertz getting the nod.

Mikel Arteta surely does not regret this decision, feeling vindicated when Havertz scored inside six minutes at the Puskás Aréna. Nevertheless, next season, Gyökeres will want to establish himself as one of the first name on Arteta's team sheet, particularly when big games come around, and his maiden performance at the World Cup surely impressed his club manager.

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