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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the forward that each Arsenal followers have been wishing for, then perhaps they will look back on this night as the juncture his luck turned around. According to the classic forward’s saying, it isn’t important how they go in.

After a run of nine matches for club and country without a goal and scrutiny increasing on the man brought in for a substantial sum in the summer, a tremendous feeling of ease washed over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from near distance via a ricochet off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side demonstrated once more that they are here to compete this season.

Stunning Reversal in Luck

Less than three minutes later and to the excitement of the local supporters, his Bane-inspired gesture modeled after the character Bane in Batman, whose famous line is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was repeated once more after forcing home from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to complete the rout against Atlético Madrid. Down on the touchline, Arteta celebrated wildly and motioned emphatically in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the best was yet to come.

“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 before this game. “Situations are not the same. All players in the world need one thing: their psychological state to be at its optimum. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the No 9 I sought for Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they faced a goal drought without scoring. Failing that, you’re not suited at this level. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Early Challenges

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are situated in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to build resilience to thrive in his chosen profession. Rebuked after a subpar outing by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to make it in top-level football, he ultimately switched from a winger into a striker after signing for Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I still remember it today,” he said not long ago.

Difficult Phase

Having failed to score since the victory against Nottingham Forest at home back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his time in football. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “invisible.”

He achieved an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances in all tournaments for Sporting last season, so the problem is obviously not his goal conversion. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his overall contribution has provided additional depth in the final third, even if the chances have not been in his favor.

Match Highlights

This was plainly visible during the initial 45 minutes of this top-level clash between two teams that had at first appeared closely contested. There was a impression that Gyökeres was overexerting himself to stand out as he charged around like a force of nature during the beginning phase. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the opening five minutes was set up by some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his opponent, José María Giménez.

The defender has the reputation of a man who could create tension effortlessly but is vastly experienced at this level compared with Gyökeres, who is participating in just his second Champions League campaign after bagging a triple for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to influencing Arteta to take the plunge.

Unyielding Drive

Yet having drawn comments that he was overweight after missing most of pre-season in Portugal, Arsenal’s much more svelte-looking striker harried all opponents as if his life depended on it. Giménez was drawn into conceding a yellow card when Gyökeres ran into him on the edge of the Atlético area having simply held his position. Gabriel Martinelli saw his goal ruled out for offside after finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it did not happen until later that the Swede had his opening chance.

A sumptuous flick from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that point it must have seemed as if the breakthrough would elude him. But the dam burst when Gabriel headed home Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was able to take full advantage as the masked striker left his imprint. “Ideally this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.