Viktor Gyokeres endured an underwhelming Premier League debut in Arsenal’s victory away to Manchester United in their opening game of the new campaign.
The Sweden international joined the Gunners in a £64million deal from Sporting CP in July, arriving as one of the most prolific strikers in Europe after two stunning seasons in Portugal.
The 26-year-old was named in the starting XI on Sunday against United, coming up against the side who tried to sign him this summer and the manager he shone under at Sporting in Ruben Amorim.
Arsenal left Manchester with a hard-fought 1-0 victory on a day where their attacking players failed to shine.
Gyokeres was among those to endure a quiet afternoon. With expectations high ahead of kick-off, the centre forward struggled up against Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro.
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The former Coventry City star had 21 touches, completed just four of nine passes and failed to register a single shot on target. Just three of his touches came in the opposition’s penalty area.
His debut came to an end on the hour mark with Kai Havertz brought onto replace him.
Arteta sympathised with his striker at full-time. While there were no clear chances for him to feast on, the Arsenal boss suggested Gyokeres’ teammates were guilty of failing to find their new teammate.
‘I think there are seven, eight situations when the ball is completely open to play through and we are in and attacking the ‘keeper,’ Arteta said.
‘We give the ball away and then it becomes a basketball game.’
Asked specifically about Gyokeres’ performance, Arteta added: ‘Well he did a lot of things very good.
‘You can tell especially in our high press and rhythm that we demand, that especially in the first half we were giving a bit too much time.
‘It is something that we have to work on him, especially there.
‘Then in the final action situation, he did not have that many chances to do that, because in the previous action, we had to play that last ball and the last was standing still with 40 metres to play.
‘We did not manage to put the ball through to exploit his quality. But overall, coming away to Man United, winning your first game with Arsenal, is a good start.’
