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“Unbelievable” – Arsenal legend praises “absolutely brilliant” play by Gunners star for Gyokeres goal 1 November 2025 at 19:38

“Unbelievable” – Arsenal legend praises “absolutely brilliant” play by Gunners star for Gyokeres goal

1 November 2025 at 19:38

Former Arsenal star Paul Merson heaped praise onto Gabriel Magalhaes for his role in setting up the opening goal for Viktor Gyokeres against Burnley today.

The Gunners have taken an early lead at Turf Moor thanks to Gyokeres heading home from close range, with Gabriel doing superbly to get the ball back across goal after Declan Rice’s corner.

Covering the game on Sky Sports, Merson praised the role Gabriel played in the Gyokeres goal, though it took him a moment to work out precisely who had the contact to set up the Swedish striker.

Watch below as the pundit praised Gabriel for his “absolutely brilliant” bit of skill as he redirected Rice’s corner into the path of Gyokeres to give him an easy finish…

“Absolutely brilliant!”

Gyokeres puts Arsenal ahead from a corner pic.twitter.com/OgOavWzGm0

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 1, 2025

Arsenal have been superb from set pieces this season and Gabriel has so often been the scorer in these kinds of situations, though he turned provider for this one.

Gabriel Magalhaes of Arsenal (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Viktor Gyokeres ends Premier League goal drought

Arsenal fans will be delighted to see their set pieces working again, and it’s also a relief for Mikel Arteta that his striker signing from this summer has finally found the back of the net.

The former Sporting Lisbon man recently scored a brace in the 4-0 Champions League win over Atletico Madrid, but he’d been on a bit of a scoring drought in the Premier League.

Arsenal team news: Has this Arteta decision condemned Gyokeres to continue his goal drought?

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By:Mark Brus

1 November 2025 at 18:15

Arsenal have named their starting XI for today’s Premier League game away to Burnley, and one immediate issue stands out.

Even if the Gunners are big favourites to pick up another three points this afternoon, there are no easy matches in the Premier League, and if there’s one criticism of Mikel Arteta’s side it’s that they rely too much on set pieces for goals.

Arsenal’s defence is rock solid, and their record for set-piece goals is very strong, but it would certainly be good if they were able to create more from open play to.

Specifically, it would also be a welcome boost if Viktor Gyokeres were to start scoring more, having hit only five goals so far this season, with just three of those coming in the Premier League.

Still, looking at Arsenal’s line up this afternoon, my immediate instinct is that Gyokeres will struggle in front of goal again…

?? ???????? ?

? Saliba partners Gabriel
? Rice pulling the strings
? Gyokeres leads the line

Give it everything again, Gunners ?

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 1, 2025

Perhaps I’ll soon be proved wrong, but using Eberechi Eze on the left instead of in the centre looks like the better choice here.

Instead, it’s Leandro Trossard starting on the left of the front three, and he’s not really a classic winger who’s going to whip balls into the box that Gyokeres can feed off.

Is Eberechi Eze the key to Arsenal getting the best out of Viktor Gyokeres?

One of Arsenal’s best goals this season was that flowing team move against Nottingham Forest, which culminated in Eze crossing it first time into the box for Gyokeres to finish.

Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring for Arsenal (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

That’s the kind of goal Gyokeres is good at, and that’s the kind of service he needs, which he’s not going to get from wingers like Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli.

Eze is also not necessarily an out and out wide player, but the England international has played well there and that goal against Forest showed how effective that partnership could be.