Mirror Football brings you all the latest Arsenal news coming out of the Emirates Stadium
Arsenal had to settle for a point against a 10-man Chelsea side on Sunday. There was no love lost between the two London giants throughout the scrappy and heated fixture at Stamford Bridge, which ended 1-1.
Enzo Maresca’s Blues dominated the first half but suffered a huge blow as Moises Caicedo was sent off in the 38th minute for a rash challenge on Mikel Merino. Yet, the home side took the lead straight after half time courtesy of Trevoh Chalobah, before Merino equalised with his own header in the 59th minute, meeting Bukayo Saka’s perfectly delivered cross.
It ended a tough week of fixtures for the Gunners, whose lead atop the Premier League table was cut to five points after Manchester City’s victory. But Mikel Arteta will still be proud of his players after they beat Tottenham 4-1 and Bayern Munich 3-1 to keep their momentum both domestically and in Europe.
Now, Mirror Football brings you two of the latest Arsenal stories following the London derby as the north Londoners turn their attention to Brentford at home on Wednesday night.
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Viktor Gyokeres ‘devastated’
Arsenal legend Ian Wright says he’d be devastated if he were Viktor Gyokeres after the Chelsea game. The £64million summer signing made his return from injury off the bench at Stamford Bridge, coming on in the 72nd minute for Eberechi Eze as Arsenal chased the winner.
After seeing very little of the ball, the Swedish striker finally had a golden opportunity to score his seventh goal for the club in the dying seconds after Piero Hincapie clipped in a cross from the left. Gyokeres raced into the six yard area and rose to meet the ball unmarked, only for team-mate Jurrien Timber to get there ahead of him and head it wide.
Some, including Wright, voiced their opinion afterwards that Gyokeres should have made it clear through no uncertain terms that it was his ball and ordered Timber out of the way. Wright was stunned that the forward wasn’t more commanding, saying he would have been ‘devastated’ in his shoes.
Wright said: “I’m thinking Gyokeres… if this is me, I’m going be screaming so loud anyone in front of me is gonna drop out [of the way]. That is what I have always been told, you have to shout and let them know you’re coming because then Timber moves his head out of the way and Gyokeres comes in and gets a clean header.
“I’d be devastated with that, he’s got to let him know, Viktor Gyokeres has to let Jurrien Timber know, ‘I’m coming’, because that is a massive opportunity missed.”
Walcott’s striker prediction
Gyokeres was handed a reality check by another former Arsenal forward after the game. Theo Walcott claimed, despite the likes of Gyokeres and Kai Havertz returning from injury, Arteta will stick with makeshift No.9 Mikel Merino over the former for high-stakes games in the future.
Merino, signed initially as a midfielder, has thrived whenever he’s been deployed in a false-nine role since the start of the year. He once again showed his goal-scoring capabilities against the Blues on Sunday.
Speaking as a pundit on Sky Sports, Walcott said: “I think Mikel Merino is more trusted in the big games, he’s a player that you know what you’re going to get. He’s got so much more experience in these games, I think Gyokeres will be more of an impact player in the big games.
“He trusts Merino a lot more and it will probably do Gyokeres a lot of good to watch from the outside and learn a lot from what Merino does.”
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games next season, an increase of up to 100 more.
