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If Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the striker that every Arsenal fans have been wishing for, then possibly they will recall this night as the moment his fortune changed. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it makes no difference how they hit the back of the net.

On the back of nine matches for club and country without a goal and pressure mounting on the man signed for £64m in the offseason, a massive sense of release engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres guided in from point-blank 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 Form

Within moments and to the joy of the home faithful, his mask celebration inspired by the character Bane in Batman, whose famous line is “I was ignored before the mask,” was showcased again 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 punched the air and motioned emphatically in the direction of his star striker, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the peak performance awaited.

“This is football, and we can’t expect a player to move leagues and have him do the same thing instantly,” the Arsenal manager said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca prior to the match. “Situations are not the same. Every footballer globally need one thing: their mental condition to be at its best. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the striker I desired at Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they went six or eight games without scoring. Failing that, you’re not suited at this standard. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Formative Hurdles

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first recognized he would have to toughen up to make it in his vocation. Rebuked after a subpar outing by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to make it in elite soccer, he was eventually transformed from a flank attacker into a striker after moving to Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I still remember it today,” he said recently.

Testing Period

Goal-shy since the win over Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his time in football. Gyökeres was sharply rebuked after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the past fortnight, with one newspaper describing his performance against the latter as “unnoticeable.”

He achieved an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the issue is evidently not his goal conversion. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his complete game has added a new layer in attack, even if the openings have not come to him.

Game Analysis

This was certainly in evidence during the opening period of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had initially seemed closely contested. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was pressing too much to make an impact 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 initial stages was set up by some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his defender, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the aura of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is highly seasoned 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 make the move.

Constant Hustle

Nevertheless having drawn comments that he was out of shape after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker pursued each opportunity as if his life depended on it. Giménez was tricked into conceding a booking when Gyökeres collided with him on the edge of the Atlético area having simply held his position. Gabriel Martinelli saw his effort disallowed for offside after finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it wasn’t until after the break that the Swede had his opening chance.

A exquisite touch from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to promptly save an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that stage it must have appeared that the breakthrough would not arrive. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel headed home Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was able to take full advantage as the masked striker announced his presence. “Ideally this is the beginning of a great run,” said a delighted Arteta.