Gyokeres not influenced by criticism after scoring for Sweden

Syndicated reporting provided by Stats Perform and reviewed by the SoccerNews editorial team.

Viktor Gyokeres insisted he was not fazed by the criticism he has faced this season with Arsenal after ending his recent goal drought for Sweden in the Nations League. 

Gyokeres was on target in Sweden’s 2-1 victory over Romania at Strawberry Arena, with his strike proving to be the winning goal for Graham Potter’s side. 

Alexander Isak opened the scoring in the 20th minute, only for Dennis Man to level things up nine minutes later as both teams played out an entertaining first half an hour. 

However, Gyokeres sealed the win two minutes before half-time, tucking home from close range after Lucas Bergvall’s shot from distance was spilled by Ionut Radu. 

It marked the Arsenal striker’s first goal of the 2026-27 campaign for club and country, having failed to score in any of his five appearances in all competitions for the Gunners. 

Gyokeres has only played 207 minutes of football for Arsenal this season, starting just two matches, despite netting 21 times across all competitions in his debut season for Mikel Arteta’s side following his big-money move from Sporting CP. 

Kai Havertz’s injury while playing for Germany could open the door for more opportunities at club level for Gyokeres, who said recent criticism of his performances was something he was not interested in reading. 

“If there is a lot of [criticism] and you read it, of course you can be influenced, but that is not something I do,” Gyokeres said. 

“If you do well, you get praise and if you don’t score goals as a striker and play as they expect, there is criticism. That is how it is for all footballers. It goes up and down.

“It is normal. It’s always nice to score a goal. It was a good finish from Lucas [Bergvall] and I was in a good position at the far post. I received it and got it in.”

— Svensk Fotboll (@svenskfotboll) September 25, 2026

Gyokeres did, however, acknowledge his performances for Arsenal had to improve. He has only managed to muster one shot across all of his outings so far in 2026-27. 

“I obviously need to do better, and yes, I want to do it, so that’s no problem. It’s good [the dialogue with Arteta],” Gyokeres added.

“I just try to do well when I get the chance and score goals. You always want to be on the field as a football player, that’s just how it is.

“I haven’t played a lot, but I’ve had a few games. It felt okay then, but it’s clear that you want to play football, and you want to play as much as possible. If I focus, that will come.”

But one player who is not short on confidence is Liverpool forward Isak, who made it five goals in eight matches for club and country so far this season. 

Isak also finished with team-high totals for shots (three), touches in the opposition box (seven) and passes in the final third (26), while also playing the full 90 minutes against Romania, with Gyokeres replaced instead by Benjamin Nygren. 

There was, however, a moment of concern for Isak, who went down and looked in some discomfort, but he revealed the issue was just some blood on his toe. 

“You can see it,” the Liverpool man told Sportbladet – who added that he “limped and grumbled badly for a good while” after the tackle – while pointing towards his toe.

“It was a real punch. Those of you who have played may know that it [the pain] takes a few minutes before it releases, but it was okay.”

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