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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres develops into the striker that every Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then maybe they will look back on this night as the point his luck changed. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it makes no difference how they find the net.

After a run of nine matches for Arsenal and Sweden without a goal and scrutiny increasing on the man signed for £64m in the close season, a huge wave of relief engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres guided in from close range via a glance off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side demonstrated once more that they mean business this season.

Remarkable Shift in Fortune

Shortly after and to the delight of the stadium crowd, his face-covering routine borrowed from the character Bane in Batman, whose famous line is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was repeated once more after bundling over from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to complete the rout against Atlético Madrid. On the sidelines, Arteta celebrated wildly and motioned emphatically in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the finest displays lay ahead.

“This is football, and we must not assume a player to switch environments and have him perform identically right away,” the Arsenal manager remarked in a conversation with the Spanish newspaper Marca prior to the match. “Situations are not the same. Each athlete anywhere need one thing: their psychological state to be at its peak. I advised Viktor in our initial discussion that the No 9 I sought for Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they went six or eight games without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not suited at this standard. That’s why I have a great belief in him.”

Early Challenges

When he was just 14 playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to build resilience to succeed in his chosen profession. Criticised after a subpar outing by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to succeed in top-level football, he ended up being converted from a winger into a striker after moving to Brommapojkarna two years later. “That one stuck with me and I recall it now,” he said in a recent interview.

Testing Period

Having failed to score since the victory against Nottingham Forest in London back on 13 September, this has been one of the most testing periods of his professional life. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were beaten by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “absent.”

He achieved an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the problem is evidently not his scoring ability. As the manager has often noted, his all‑round play has provided additional depth in offense, even if the chances have not come to him.

Game Analysis

This was certainly in evidence during the initial 45 minutes of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had initially seemed evenly matched. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was trying too hard to stand out as he bustled about like a disruptive presence during the opening minutes. An Eberechi Eze shot that glanced on to the bar inside the opening five minutes was originated from some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that cleverly escaped from his marker, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the aura of a man who could create tension effortlessly but is deeply knowledgeable at this standard compared with Gyökeres, who is competing in merely his second Champions League campaign after scoring a hat-trick for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to influencing Arteta to make the move.

Relentless Effort

Yet having attracted criticism that he was overweight after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s much more svelte-looking striker chased down every ball as if his future was at stake. Giménez was fooled into conceding a booking when Gyökeres made contact on the edge of the Atlético area having merely stood his ground. Gabriel Martinelli saw his effort disallowed for offside after tapping in Bukayo Saka’s cross and it wasn’t until after the break that the Swede had his initial opportunity.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli set Gyökeres up perfectly, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an weak effort towards goal. Then it must have appeared that the first score would never come. But the dam burst when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was perfectly positioned to benefit as the man in the mask made his mark. “Ideally this is the beginning of a great run,” said a delighted Arteta.