Gary Neville points finger at Viktor Gyokeres and Arsenal team-mates with brutal Chelsea verdict

Viktor Gyokeres was far from his best in the Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg against Chelsea – and Gary Neville has since criticised the Arsenal forward

Gary Neville gave his verdict on Viktor Gyokeres during Arsenal’s Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win against Chelsea on Tuesday.

Gyokeres, 27, started as the lone centre forward for the Gunners but struggled to make an impact. Indeed, the Sweden international had just ten touches and attempted one shot throughout.

He cut an isolated figure up front for Mikel Arteta’s side and was taken off in the 69th minute with Kai Havertz coming on in his place. And the German ended up coming on and becoming the match-winner, rounding Robert Sanchez to tap home in stoppage-time to seal to a 1-0 win on the night and 4-2 success on aggregate.

Speaking on co-commentary for Sky Sports, Neville said on Gyokeres: “A massive struggle for Gyokeres. Arsenal need more from their forward players – they’ve not done enough.”

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Gyokeres signed for the Gunners in a £63million transfer from Sporting CP last July. He has since scored 11 goals and provided two assists in 31 appearances across all competitions.

The ex-Brighton and Swansea man found the net in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Leeds, as he got in front of his marker before slamming Gabriel Martinelli’s cross beyond goalkeeper Lucas Perri.

Arsenal led 3-2 from the first leg at Stamford Bridge and needed to draw or win the game to guarantee a place in next month’s Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium. Although the Gunners were not at their best on the night and didn’t create much, they restricted Chelsea to just one big chance and did enough to come out as victors.

Reflecting on his side’s win and progression to a first major final in five-and-a-half years, Arteta said post-match: “We are so happy. I think overall, over the last two games, I think we deserved to be through.

“It was a long match, we expected that. We wrapped it up at the end in a beautiful way, with Kai scoring the goal in the match that he did and the reaction from the crowd.

“The starters, the finishers, the staff, it just was magical. So I’m really happy because it was a really tough match against a great opponent and we are in Wembley.”

“We knew that we were going to have to play a lot of games within that game,” Arteta added. “Especially because right from the beginning they changed their set-up and they played in a different way.

“I knew that 45, depending on the context of the game, they could do that like they did three days ago. Or a 60, a 70. We were going to have to be very flexible and smart using the bench and the adjustments that we had to make.

“It’s true that we haven’t really conceded nothing. We only created three or four chances, two big chances before the goal. The margins were going to be small because they are a really good side. They compete so well as well. They are a really good coach and I think we got it over the line.”

Next up for Arsenal is a home game against Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday. They then travel to Brentford before hosting Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup.