Mikel Arteta’s team delivered a dominant performance, securing a three-goal lead by halftime with goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Sporting managed to pull one back early in the second half through Goncalo Inacio, but Arsenal maintained their control. ..Continue Reading
Bukayo Saka converted a penalty for their fourth goal, and Leandro Trossard rounded off the win with an 82nd-minute strike.
Gyokeres, who has attracted interest from clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, struggled against Arsenal’s solid defense, led by Gabriel and William Saliba.
The Brazilian defender added to Gyokeres’ frustration by mimicking the Swedish striker’s signature celebration, interlocking his fingers in front of his face, after scoring Arsenal’s third goal.
Gabriel has not commented on why he chose to replicate Gyokeres’ celebration. However, it seems to have been a response to Sporting’s Pedro Goncalves, who mocked Granit Xhaka’s celebration after knocking Arsenal out of the Europa League on penalties at the Emirates Stadium last season.
Ljungberg, who briefly managed Arsenal before Arteta’s appointment in late 2019, has expressed disapproval of Gabriel’s actions, calling out the lack of sportsmanship.
‘I’m not a fan of it,’ Ljungberg said during his analysis for Viaplay.
‘Of course, he must have had a lot of talk about playing against Gyokeres and whether he would be able to do it. Then his point in showing that he can handle it is quite simple.
‘But I think it’s a bit disrespectful.
‘Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I think someone else has that target gesture, leave it alone. I don’t like to see it.’
Ljungberg’s fellow pundit, former Sweden manager Lars Lagerback, added: ‘You can always discuss ethics and morality but I don’t think it’s particularly serious. But you can only take a little.
‘There is probably some irony behind it, one hopes, and not just rudeness.’
When asked about Gabriel’s decision to copy his celebration, Gyokeres told Viaplay: ‘I didn’t know he did that, but it’s fun he likes my celebration.
‘He’s welcome to steal it if he can’t create his own celebration.’
Speaking about Sporting’s performance, Gyokeres said: ‘We were not good enough today.
‘We didn’t play good enough football when we had the ball. We start like against Manchester City and concede an early goal and it’s not always that easy to turn a game around… it was a tough day.’
Meanwhile, Kai Havertz praised Gabriel and Saliba for keeping Gyokeres quiet during the entire game.
‘He is a big threat and plays well for Sporting but credit to our defence that handled him well today,’ Havertz said.
‘Today he wasn’t that dangerous, but that’s because we defended very well.’
