Leon Osman blown away by two Arsenal stars who ‘dominated’ v Sporting | OneFootball

Arsenal claimed an emphatic 5-1 win over Sporting CP to move to seventh on the Champions League table following a terrific performance from Mikel Arteta’s side.

The Gunners needed a response following their loss to Inter Milan before the November international break, and his boys delivered.

Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring, and Kai Havertz doubled the lead before Gabriel Magalhaes thumped in a Declan Rice corner to establish a healthy lead before half-time. Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard ensured the win, although they were pegged back by a goal from Goncalo Inacio.

Ahead of the game, many wanted to see how Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres would perform against two of the best defenders – Saliba and Gabriel. The pair marshalled the 26-year-old.

Former Everton midfielder turned pundit Leon Osman was blown away by their performance against the in-form Gyokeres, who has netted 24 goals in 19 games this season.

“Gabriel and William Saliba have dominated Viktor Gyokeres tonight,” Osman said (via the BBC). “He showed his ability to hold the ball up at times, but when you are talking of €100 million, you’d have expected him to give that Arsenal duo a bit more of a difficult evening on his home ground than he did tonight.”

Gabriel crowned his sturdy defensive performance with a goal. Meanwhile, Saliba won six of his eight duels and four tackles.

Gyokeres did not have a bad game against the highly-rated duo. He found ways to create space and get shots off. He fed off scraps today but never stopped running the channels and trying to make himself a nuisance.

His €100 million release clause is an exaggerated figure. The former Coventry City is a more than capable centre-forward.

His numbers in the Portuguese top flight may drop in a much more difficult league, but he would be a massive coup for any club that can land him, especially Arsenal.