‘I love his character’ – Arteta hails Gyokeres after striker’s double against Sunderland | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta hailed the character shown by Viktor Gyokeres after the striker scored twice to help his side to a 3-0 win over Sunderland.

Gyokeres’ double took his goal tally to 13 for the season in all competitions, coming off the bench against the Black Cats to secure another victory and send his side nine points clear at the top of the Premier League ahead of Manchester City’s game on Sunday.

“The way he came in, he was ready straight away,” Arteta said.

“When you get the line-up, you react in a certain way and we’re experiencing it every three days, we know how important the finishers are, the impact that they are having on the team, on the results and where we are at the moment.”

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Gyokeres has not had it all his own way this season, struggling at times to replicate the sort of form that persuaded Arsenal to pay £64m to sign him from Sporting CP.

But Arteta says he has been impressed by the way he has remained focused on the present.

“When you put that shirt on it comes with huge expectations and responsibility and you need to live with that,” he continued.

“In your journey here you’re going to have moments that go really well and others that will be tough.

“But I love his character, the way he approaches every single day, and the fact he’s so focused on the present, what he has to do, and he has a genuine will to help the team in whatever role he has.

“He doesn’t seem too affected by the highs or the lows and that’s what we need, that stability. He’s very demanding of himself, he’s constantly trying to improve and that’s really, really good.”

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