{"id":12803,"date":"2026-02-08T17:24:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T17:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12803"},"modified":"2026-02-12T01:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:52:35","slug":"gyokeres-starts-to-prove-his-worth-as-arsenal-gain-a-solid-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=12803","title":{"rendered":"Gyokeres starts to prove his worth as Arsenal gain a solid win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<a id=\"jSPhp3o0QLJtUDUIPX2Ubg\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2260482312\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'jSPhp3o0QLJtUDUIPX2Ubg',sig:'qf1-DMrnMQALvUIO4YkrIrZeMffp293Jfpvi208T-0I=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2260482312',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src=\"\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\" async=\"\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal went, at least temporarily, into a nine point lead in the Premier League with an ultimately comfortable 3-0 win over Sunderland at the Emirates yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;A late change in our writing schedule has led me to metaphorically rip&nbsp; off my tracksuit and&nbsp; produce a report on the game which I viewed from inside the stadium and subsequently at home. As I did not take notes this will be more impressionistic than deeply factual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the first things I noted on arriving at the ground was that both goalmouths are significantly worn. Not in the way that goalmouths would wear in the sixties and seventies when there would be no grass on the pitch after November. What has caused this is unclear. Could it be volume of matches with the stadium hosting a full season of men\u2019s matches and most of the fixtures for our Club World Championship winning ladies side? Or could David Raya have single-handedly worn them down as he fannies around the six yard box when taking goal-kicks? Or has Jamie O\u2019Hara the ex- Spurs pundit who I listened to driving back after the game, vandalised the pitch in an attempt to thwart our advance on the Quadruple? Listening to his pathetic&nbsp; claims post-match it made me realise that a village in Essex must be currently without its idiot and that this season is becoming a very painful one for many people. Especially if you are based in N17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the Sunderland match Mikel Arteta tweaked the team that reached Wembley on Tuesday. Raya returned but had one of his fortunately very rare days of slight eccentricity, Calafiori replaced Hincapie and also looked slightly off his best, Gabriel Jesus started upfront with Havertz in midfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sunderland stuck with the side that had put Burnley to the sword on Monday and began the game in lively mood. They are the first side I have noted with a Mr. Brobbey upfront and he looked a difficult customer to deal with pinning Saliba on a number of occasions. Diarra was elegant upfront and Danny Ballard, once of this parish was the cornerstone of their defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Havertz headed wide in the first minute after excellent work by Trossard who had a very hardworking and effective game but left the field near the end with what looked like a muscle strain. Raya had fumbled an early cross which Brobbey drove towards goal only for Havertz to block his effort. It was an even contest with Sunderland looking neat and well-organised. Rice curled an effort narrowly wide but Arsenal weren\u2019t able to dominate possession or pin the Mackems back. The game burst into life a few minutes before halftime when Trossard on the left rolled a short pass to Zubimendi and he hit a low shot with slight curl which beat Roefs on his right and entered the net via the right post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 1 Sunderland 0 &#8211; Zubimendi 41<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shortly afterwards Jesus was put clear through the middle took the ball around Roefs and was brought down. The refereee, Sam Barrett who was reasonably impressive, apart from being too lenient on a Brobbey charge on Timber, gave a penalty but then Jesus was given offside. Later the strange mechanistic drawings that PGMOL use to illustrate offsides showed Jesus with his feet in his own half but his head over the line. I suspect the knowledge that a penalty would force them to consider a possible red card for Ballard may have influenced their decision. Shortly afterwards Havertz picked up the ball in the outside right channel drifted inside and curled just wide. Arsenal had narrowly shaded a hard- fought first half in wet and windy conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Halftime &#8211; Arsenal 1 Sunderland 0&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arsenal, as they so often do looked more energised as the second half began but Madueke who had begun well started to fade as his end product reduced and Jesus continued to be neat but peripheral in search of a second Arsenal goal. Meanwhile Talbi fired a low-shot which Raya saved with difficulty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arteta decided to make changes on the hour bringing on Martinelli and Gyokeres for Madueke and Jesus. Arsenal immediately began to hold a higher and more dominant press and on 66 minutes quick and clever switch passes by Trossard and Havertz set up Gyokeres who while off-balance managed to fire a shot past Roefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 2 Sunderland 0 &#8211; Gyokeres 66&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That seemed decisive and Arsenal brought on Eze for Havertz. Eze has attracted criticism despite some notable moments in his fledgling Arsenal career but his contribution was increasingly assured. Sunderland remained competitive but were not penetrative due to the vigilance of our defence where Hincapie replaced a rusty-looking Calafiori. Gyokeres was notably effective causing real problems with his muscular presence and neat in his build-up play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Norgaard replaced Trossard in injury-time, the Belgian looked to be suffering from cramp but we hope it is nothing more serious. He had a very good game combining ubiquity with skill and underlining what a terrific asset he has been since his signing three years ago.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Norgaard made a timely interception, early in injury time ,playing the ball forward and Martinelli used his pace and strength to move into the penalty area, draw Roefs and give Gyokeres a tap-in.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Arsenal 3 Sunderland 0 &#8211; Gyokeres 90+1&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The natives are softening towards Gyokeres with good reason as he is the top scorer in 2026 of any Premier League striker. Yesterday he caught the eye with the intelligence of his moving and his pressing and it is possible that his confidence has been boosted by changing fortunes and this is reflected by the speed of his reactions. He has tended to score against the less&nbsp; vaunted teams but Arsenal have lacked someone who puts the lesser teams to bed for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A scintillating Eze run almost set up Martinelli. This was a day when all of our substitutions worked well, increasing the energy and creativity of the team. Juggling minutes for our squad in the midst of this incredibly intense programme is a difficult challenge but one we\u2019ve dealt with excellently.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was a highly satisfactory result and a decent performance, putting us temporarily nine points ahead of C130y who celebrated the third anniversary of their charges this weekend. Nothing is decided yet or will be for some time but steady performances like this will help us closer to that elusive league title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Full-time Arsenal 3 Sunderland 0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embed from Getty Images Arsenal went, at least temporarily, into a nine point lead in the Premier League with an ultimately comfortable 3-0 win over Sunderland at the Emirates yesterday. &nbsp;A late change in our writing schedule has led me to metaphorically rip&nbsp; off my tracksuit and&nbsp; produce a report on the game which I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12803"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12803"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12820,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12803\/revisions\/12820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}