Viktor Gyokeres was substituted at half-time during Arsenal’s clash with Burnley – sparking fears that he may be injured.
The Swedish striker opened the scoring in the first half and had put in arguably his finest performance in a Gunners shirt to date, also playing a key roll in the build-up to a second goal by Declan Rice, with a fine pass. But he didn’t emerge for the second half, as he was replaced by Mikel Merino.
That followed him catching a stray elbow in the face from Clarets midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu in an aerial duel shortly before the break.
Arsenal fans were left fearing the worst, with one saying: “Have to say, Gyokeres was having his best game in an Arsenal shirt. The runs he makes for the team are fantastic and brings so much more than his goal tally states.” A second fan said: “A shame for Gyokeres to go off. That was his best half of football in an Arsenal shirt.”
Another wrote: “That Gyokeres injury means we now have 6 attackers out – Havertz, Jesus, Madueke, Odegaard, Martinelli and Gyokeres. No matter how much depth you have you can’t absorb that. We need bodies back ASAP”
However, other fans speculated it was “only a minor nose injury” and a precautionary measure by manager Mikel Arteta. One fan said: “Hopefully, that’s just precautionary for Gyokeres. Took a whack in the face first half didn’t he? God knows we can’t take another attacking injury. Big shame after he was fantastic in the first half and had just broken his league goal drought.”
Another Gunners supporter said: “It’s a shame because he was playing so well, but no point taking any risks when he’s our only striker at the moment.”
Gyokeres had opened the scoring after 14 minutes when he nodded in from close range as Arsenal once again capitalised from a corner kick. Gabriel Magalhaes won the first ball before Gyokeres cleaned up the play to get on the scoresheet.
The Gunners went on to take advantage of a Burnley set piece to extend their lead. Gyokeres was again involved as he drove the visitors forward on the break. The Swede provided an incisive ball to Leandro Trossard, who crossed in for Declan Rice to head home on 35 minutes.
His goal against Burnley was his fourth Premier League strike of the season, ending a five-game goal drought in the league.
Next up for Arsenal is a trip away to Slavia Praha in the Champions League on Tuesday, before the title hopefuls travel to Sunderland next weekend.