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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres develops into the forward that each Arsenal supporters have been wishing for, then possibly they will reflect on this night as the moment his luck changed. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it isn’t important how they hit the back of the net.

After a run of nine matches for club and country without a goal and scrutiny increasing on the man signed for £64m in the summer, a massive sense of release washed over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from close range via a ricochet off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are here to compete this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Fortune

Less than three minutes later and to the excitement of the stadium crowd, his face-covering routine modeled after the villain Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “attention came only with the disguise,” was repeated once more after forcing home from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to seal the victory against Atlético Madrid. On the sidelines, Arteta celebrated wildly and gestured animatedly in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the peak performance awaited.

“Such is soccer, and we must not assume a player to move leagues and have him perform identically right away,” the Arsenal manager said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca ahead of the fixture. “Situations are not the same. Every footballer globally need one thing: their mental condition to be at its peak. I told Viktor in our initial discussion that the striker I desired at Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they went six or eight games without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not suited at this tier. That’s why I have a great belief in him.”

Formative Hurdles

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are based in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to build resilience to succeed in his vocation. Rebuked after a subpar outing by a coach who said he lacked the mindset to excel in professional play, he ultimately switched from a wide player into a striker after joining Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I recall it now,” he said in a recent interview.

Difficult Phase

Goal-shy since the victory against Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his career. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “absent.”

He recorded an astounding 54 goals in 52 appearances in all tournaments for Sporting last season, so the difficulty is clearly not his finishing. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his all‑round play has given Arsenal an extra dimension in the final third, even if the openings have not come to him.

Match Highlights

This was certainly in evidence during the opening period of this top-level clash between two teams that had initially seemed closely contested. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was trying too hard to stand out as he ran aggressively like a force of nature during the early stages. An Eberechi Eze shot that glanced on to the bar inside the first few moments was created by some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that skillfully evaded from his marker, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the reputation of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is vastly experienced at this level compared with Gyökeres, who is playing in only his second Champions League campaign after scoring a hat-trick for Sporting against Manchester City last season that probably significantly contributed to influencing Arteta to make the move.

Unyielding Drive

Yet having drawn comments that he was carrying a few too many pounds after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s noticeably leaner striker pursued each opportunity as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was drawn into conceding a yellow card when Gyökeres made contact on the edge of the Atlético area having simply held his position. Gabriel Martinelli saw his attempt canceled for offside after finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it only came in the second half that the Swede had his opening chance.

A sumptuous flick from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to swiftly block an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. Then it must have seemed as if the first score would never come. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was perfectly positioned to benefit as the masked striker announced his presence. “With any luck this is the beginning of a great run,” said a delighted Arteta.