Gyökeres brace puts the finishing touch on Arsenal’s dominant Champions League win over Atlético.

October 21, 2025

Gyökeres brace puts the finishing touch on Arsenal’s dominant Champions League win over Atlético.

Gyökeres Double Caps Arsenal’s Ruthless Champions League Rout of Atlético

By David Hytner at the Emirates Stadium

For nearly an hour, Atlético Madrid were right in this Champions League tie. Diego Simeone’s side had defended with typical resolve and even rattled the crossbar through Julián Álvarez. Then, in the blink of an eye, they weren’t — undone by the blistering pace and ruthless precision with which Arsenal seized control.

Set pieces once again proved decisive — both for the breakthrough and the fourth goal. Declan Rice found Gabriel Magalhães for the opener, then repeated the delivery for No 4, the only difference being that this time Gabriel nodded across for Viktor Gyökeres to bundle in from close range. When Gabriel charges forward and Rice swings one in, resistance seems futile.

That made it Gyökeres’s second of the night. His first, for 3–0, came when he dug out a loose ball and drove home via a deflection off David Hancko. Tireless all evening, the Swedish striker finally reaped his reward.

Gabriel Martinelli had doubled Arsenal’s lead earlier, capping a surging run from Myles Lewis-Skelly with a composed first-time finish into the bottom corner — the standout moment of the match. Simeone could only vent his fury from the touchline as his defenders failed to halt the teenager’s charge.

Four goals in 13 devastating minutes left Atlético dazed and Arsenal resounding. Against their toughest opposition yet — after facing Athletic Bilbao and Olympiakos — Mikel Arteta’s men raised their level once again. Another win, another clean sheet.

Arsenal have now conceded only three goals in 12 matches across all competitions. There’s a relentlessness to their play — methodical, muscular, and seemingly inevitable. Even when the first half offered little reward, they stuck to their plan, convinced it would break through. The belief is total.

Atlético arrived in fine form — four wins and a draw from five, including a 5–2 thrashing of Real Madrid — but once breached, they unravelled. Gaps opened, errors crept in, and Arsenal punished every lapse.

Gabriel was immense at both ends, yet it was Gyökeres who claimed the headlines. His barren spell — nine goalless games for club and country — had drawn scrutiny, but his brace silenced the noise. Neither goal was pretty, both scrappy and close-range, yet the cathartic celebrations told the story. The Emirates rose to applaud him when he departed late on.

Arsenal’s intensity defined the night. Their counter-press was ferocious; every lost ball sparked a furious chase to win it back. For Atlético, this was a brutal test of composure. Pablo Barrios impressed in midfield, but once Arsenal clicked into gear, there was no holding them.

The hosts had gone close earlier — Eberechi Eze’s deflected strike clipped the bar before Rice failed to convert the rebound — while Atlético’s best first-half chance came when Giuliano Simeone caught David Raya far from goal. Álvarez tried an audacious lob toward the empty net but sent it wide.

Álvarez remained a livewire, denied again by Gabriel and William Saliba after bursting through from halfway, then seeing a curling strike cannon off the crossbar moments before Arsenal’s surge began.

From there, it was one-way traffic. Gyökeres was denied once by Jan Oblak, but the Rice-Gabriel combination soon unlocked Atlético’s resistance — and Arsenal never looked back. When they find that next gear, few in Europe can keep up.

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Gyökeres brace puts the finishing touch on Arsenal’s dominant Champions League win over Atlético.

Gyökeres Double Caps Arsenal’s Ruthless Champions League Rout of Atlético

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