When Arsenal spent £63 million bringing one of the most prolific centre-forwards in Europe to the Premier League, struggling West Ham United was exactly the kind of opposition they’d have been expecting Viktor Gyokeres to feast on.
But while Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka would walk away from the Emirates with their appetites sated, Mikel Arteta’s new number nine went hungry on a day when Konstantinos Mavropanos bared his teeth.
Up against his former employers, Mavropanos had a point to prove. Not only because Arsenal sold him to Stuttgart after a grand total of seven Premier League appearances, but because the giant Greek defender has come in for renewed criticism in a West Ham United shirt over the last few weeks.
Justifiable criticism, too.
While Nuno Espirito Santo got a much jauntier tune from his charges against Everton on Monday night – at least compared to the plodding death march of the Graham Potter era – a ‘poor’ Mavropanos left Michael Keane unmarked to head the Toffees ahead.
Perhaps it was a return to his old stomping ground. Perhaps the size of the challenge, and the identity of the opposition, focused his mind a little. Perhaps it’s just because Viktor Gyokeres is not what he was cracked up to be.
Whatever the reason, the fact that even a few Arsenal supporters were left paying reluctant praise to Mavropanos at full-time reflected very well on West Ham’s big defender but admittedly pretty badly on Gyokeres.
Arsenal fans think West Ham United’s Kontantinos Mavropanos bullied Viktor Gyokeres
The Gunners mustered 21 attempts on goal and just shy of 70 per cent possession against West Ham. Despite that dominance, Gyokeres never looked like adding to the goals he scored against Leeds and a post-Nuno Nottingham Forest outfit.
The former Sporting Lisbon talisman managed only one shot on target.
He was dominated in the air by Mavropanos from almost the first minute to the last despite there being only two inches in height between the two men, while the much-maligned West Ham centre-back also denied him a couple of clear openings with some diligent penalty-box shackling.
One Arsenal supporter, seemingly losing patience already, is even counting down the days until Kai Havertz returns from injury.
“Pick literally any game Havertz has played against West Ham sides better than this one, he cooked in all of them,” the supporter wrote on X. “Gyokeres was getting clamped by Mavropanos.”
Havertz, in his last two appearances against the Hammers, led the line in successive 5-2 and 6-0 victories.
“Gyokeres has made Mavropanos look like prime Sergio Ramos today,” another fan agrees. “I can’t believe this.”
“Gyokeres in the pocket of Mavropanos.”
“Even Mavropanos is bullying Gyokeres, for God’s sake!”
“Gyok struggling against Mavropanos? Are you joking?”
“Gyokeres hasn’t been able to beat Mavropanos, [Lucas] Paqueta and [Jarrod] Bowen for strength today.”
Mavropanos beats Virgil van Dijk’s numbers despite Nuno Espirito Santo’s first defeat
Mavropanos was West Ham’s stand-out performer at Arsenal, albeit he was run pretty close by Alphonse Areola in goal.
And though the Hammers offered little at the other end in an eventual 2-0 defeat – their first loss at the Emirates in three attempts – the improvements made by he and Max Kilman after just a week under Nuno bodes pretty well.
Nuno, after all, is a proven constructor of rock-solid backlines.
Mavropanos even completed a staggering 16 clearances on the day. For reference, the highest average in the Premier League is 9.8 per game, a tally put forward by Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk.
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