To Viktor, the spoils…
The doubts surrounding Viktor Gyokeres have been unrelenting for some time.
It’s a topic which Mikel Arteta finds himself returning to every few weeks, despite the Swede’s eight Premier League goals before Arsenal’s visit to Tottenham.
Goals haven’t necessarily been the issue – it has been his overall play, and tendency to go missing in games.
Given the frontline can sometimes seem so reliant on Bukayo Saka, it is a big help if Arsenal’s No9 is fully firing. That was certainly the case here.
Gyokeres got himself involved immediately, and had a shot on seven minutes whistle just wide of the post.
Viktor Gyokeres finishes clinically for his second of the game in the dying moments for 4-1
From there, he sniffed around in the final third without producing much – before returning after the break to devastating effect.
His first goal, which rocketed past Guglielmo Vicario, reflected the striker’s sheer ball-striking power which he can utilise when given the space around the area.
He collected the ball from the edge of the box with no defender close by before unleashing a powerful shot.
And then his second strike, muscling Archie Gray off before curling the ball home, showed the instincts of a real striker.
The way he marched through showed a dominance which has rarely shown at Arsenal.
Even with the determination, his team-mates have previously not made enough of an effort to find Gyokeres. Perhaps they have been relucant because of the forward’s profligacy on the ball.
But from the evidence of Sunday they should look to involve the striker further.
He now has the impetus to kick on from a display which will go some way towards quietening the doubts which have followed him.
Gyokeres takes in the applause of Arsenal’s travelling fans after the game
When asked if this was Gyokeres’ best performance for Arsenal, Arteta said: ‘I think so. I think his overall play was incredible, the efficiency, the goals that he scored. He was really, really good today.’
With Kai Havertz injured once again and Gabriel Jesus on the periphery, Arsenal badly need Gyokeres on song.
An interesting change was how Arteta didn’t take Gyokeres off in the second period, as he has done in nine of his previous 10 league starts.
That has often changed the context of games and arguably allowed opposition teams in because of the changed shape, contributing to the dropping of points.
So Arteta learned from that here, and you can expect this trend to continue.
Eze does it – now over to Odegaard!
The sight of Eberechi Eze’s brace was bad news for only one man: Martin Odegaard.
The Gunners captain was on the bench having recently returned from a muscle injury.
Though even before his time on the sidelines, the Norwegian underwhelmed.
The heights of his combined 20 goals and assists in the league from the 2023-24 season have seemed miles away, and Odegaard has often found it hard to make an impact in the final third.
Those incisive through balls and tricky runs which are hallmarks of his game have lacked to the frustration of supporters.
Eberechi Eze now has five goals in just two games against Spurs this season
Eze’s Arsenal career seemed to have taken a major hit just two weeks ago, when he was hooked at half-time of the 1-1 draw with Brentford in a poor showing.
He was largely anonymous, and Arteta’s move to take him off early was widely seen as a scapegoating moment.
It made this match all the more crucial for the attacker — and he took his chance with aplomb.
These were his first league goals since striking a hat-trick against Spurs in November, a team who had wanted to sign him. He will now want to kick on.
Arteta said: ‘I could see that he wanted to prove something.
‘He was upset, even with me, because I didn’t play him the other day from the beginning, and some of the decisions that I made. And I just have to understand how we’re going to get the best out of him now.’
The manager was clear — Eze has not been happy occupying the bench, having joined the club for £67.5million at the expense of their rivals. He moved for game time on the way to trophies.
Odegaard will now have some task to win his position back.
Martin Odegaard celebrates after the fourth, but will he have to get used to being a substitute?
Now keep it clean…
An area Arteta needs to continue monitoring is the issue of conceding goals.
Here, Arsenal shipped a goal just two minutes after Eze’s opening strike. Yet, it’s the more wider trend.
Overall, only Crystal Palace and West Ham (both eight) have dropped more points from winning positions in the league in 2026 than the Gunners (seven).
Of course, the Gunners cantered on to a sizeable scoreline on this occasion. But conceding avoidable goals will come back to bite you more often than not.
On Sunday it was a Declan Rice error which allowed Randal Kolo Muani to score.
It was only a few months ago that Chelsea’s clean-sheet record was being touted as a target for this team to break.
Now, conceding goals has become a habit — and it’s one which needs to be ironed out fast, if Arsenal are to continue to set the pace at the top.
