Stopping Viktor Gyökeres was arguably the greatest challenge in Portuguese football over the past two seasons. Every time the new Arsenal striker stepped on to the pitch, defenders, goalkeepers and managers braced for 90 relentless minutes. Across his two years at Sporting, he scored 68 goals in 66 league appearances – and added another 29 in other competitions. But what is it really like to face the Swedish forward? And how can Premier League teams hope to contain him?
For Kewin Silva, the name stirs up difficult memories. In April, the then Moreirense goalkeeper was forced to fish the ball out of his net three times during one of Gyökeres’s standout performances for Sporting. Earlier in the season, the modest northern club had stunned the Lisbon giants with a 2–1 home win. Gyökeres did score from the penalty spot that day, but Moreirense’s defence managed to keep him quiet otherwise. In the return fixture, however, with the title race intensifying, nothing could stop him.
