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Should Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the striker that every Arsenal fans have been hoping for, then maybe they will recall this night as the point his luck changed. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it doesn’t matter how they hit the back of the net.

Following a streak of nine matches for club and country without a goal and pressure mounting on the man acquired for a hefty fee in the offseason, a huge wave of relief washed over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from near distance via a glance off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side demonstrated once more that they are here to compete this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Luck

Shortly after and to the excitement of the home faithful, his mask celebration modeled after the character Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “attention came only with the disguise,” was repeated once more after kneeing in from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to complete the rout against Atlético Madrid. On the sidelines, Arteta punched the air 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 can’t expect a player to change contexts and have him do the same thing instantly,” the Arsenal manager stated in a discussion with the Spanish newspaper Marca prior to the match. “Situations are not the same. All players in the world need one thing: their mental condition to be at its best. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the center forward I desired at Arsenal was someone who could remain strong psychologically when they experienced a dry spell without scoring. Failing that, you’re not good enough at this standard. That’s why I have a lot of faith in him.”

Formative Hurdles

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first recognized he would have to build resilience to thrive in his vocation. Criticised after a poor performance by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to succeed in professional play, he ultimately switched from a winger into a striker after joining Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I recall it now,” he said in a recent interview.

Testing Period

Without a goal since the triumph over Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the most testing periods of his time in football. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper describing his performance against the latter as “unnoticeable.”

He managed an incredible 54 goals in 52 appearances in all tournaments for Sporting last season, so the issue is evidently not his goal conversion. As the manager has often noted, his all‑round play has provided additional depth in offense, even if the opportunities have not been in his favor.

Game Analysis

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 sense that Gyökeres was overexerting himself to make an impact as he charged around like a disruptive presence during the beginning phase. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the first few moments was created by some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that cleverly escaped from his opponent, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the air of a man who could create tension effortlessly but is vastly experienced at this standard compared with Gyökeres, who is playing in only his second Champions League campaign after bagging a triple for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to persuading Arteta to secure the signing.

Unyielding Drive

However having drawn comments that he was overweight after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s noticeably leaner striker chased down every ball as if his life depended on it. Giménez was fooled into conceding a caution when Gyökeres ran into him on the edge of the Atlético area having merely stood his ground. Gabriel Martinelli saw his goal ruled out for offside after converting Bukayo Saka’s cross and it wasn’t until after the break that the Swede had his opening chance.

A exquisite touch from Martinelli set Gyökeres up perfectly, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an hesitant shot towards goal. At that stage it must have felt like the opening goal would never come. But the goals flowed when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was perfectly positioned to benefit as the masked striker left his imprint. “Ideally this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.