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If Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the forward that all Arsenal followers have been praying for, then perhaps they will recall this night as the moment his destiny turned around. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it isn’t important how they find the net.

On the back of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and expectations rising 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 point-blank via a ricochet off David Hancko during a electrifying second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they mean business this season.

Remarkable Shift in Fortune

Within moments and to the joy of the stadium crowd, his face-covering routine modeled after the villain Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was showcased again after bundling over from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to finish the demolition against Atlético Madrid. Down on the touchline, Arteta celebrated wildly and signaled enthusiastically in the direction of his star striker, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the peak performance awaited.

“That’s the game, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to move leagues and have him do the same thing instantly,” the Arsenal manager remarked in a conversation with the Spanish newspaper Marca before this game. “Situations are not the same. Every footballer globally need one thing: their mental condition to be at its best. I advised Viktor in our initial discussion that the center forward I sought for Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they went six or eight games without scoring. If not, you’re not cut out at this level. That’s why I have a great belief in him.”

Formative Hurdles

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are situated in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first recognized he would have to toughen up to thrive in his vocation. Criticised after a poor performance by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to succeed 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 think about it often,” he said recently.

Difficult Phase

Goal-shy since the victory against 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 overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the previous 14 days, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “invisible.”

He managed an incredible 54 goals in 52 appearances in all tournaments for Sporting last season, so the difficulty is obviously not his scoring ability. In line with the coach’s repeated comments, his overall contribution has given Arsenal an extra dimension in the final third, even if the opportunities have not fallen his way.

Match Highlights

This was certainly in evidence during the initial 45 minutes of this elite matchup between two teams that had originally looked evenly matched. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was pressing too much to impress as he bustled about like a force of nature during the early stages. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the initial stages was set up by some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that cleverly escaped from his opponent, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the aura of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is deeply knowledgeable at this level compared with Gyökeres, who is competing in merely his second Champions League campaign after bagging a triple for Sporting against Manchester City last season that probably significantly contributed to influencing Arteta to secure the signing.

Constant Hustle

However having drawn comments that he was out of shape after sitting out the buildup in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker chased down every ball as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was drawn into conceding a booking when Gyökeres ran into him on the edge of the Atlético area having only been stationary. Gabriel Martinelli saw his effort disallowed for offside after finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it did not happen until later that the Swede had his initial opportunity.

A sumptuous flick from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to swiftly block an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that stage 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 masked striker made his mark. “Hopefully this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.