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Should Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the striker that all Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then possibly they will look back on this night as the moment his destiny changed. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it makes no difference how they go in.

On the back of nine matches for Arsenal and Sweden without a goal and expectations rising on the man acquired for a hefty fee in the summer, a huge wave of relief swept over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from close range via a ricochet off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side demonstrated once more that they are here to compete this season.

Stunning Reversal in Fortune

Within moments and to the excitement of the home faithful, his face-covering routine borrowed from the villain Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “attention came only with the disguise,” was repeated once more after bundling over from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to seal the victory against Atlético Madrid. From the technical area, Arteta punched the air and motioned emphatically in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the best was yet to come.

“Such is soccer, and we can’t expect a player to switch environments and have him perform identically right away,” the Arsenal manager stated in a discussion with the Spanish newspaper Marca before this game. “Circumstances vary greatly. Each athlete anywhere need one thing: their psychological state to be at its best. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the center forward I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could remain strong psychologically when they faced a goal drought without scoring. If not, you’re not good enough at this standard. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Youthful Struggles

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are situated in Stockholm’s southside districts, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to toughen up to thrive in his vocation. Rebuked after a poor performance by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to make it in top-level football, he ultimately switched from a wide player into a striker after joining Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I think about it often,” he said not long ago.

Difficult Phase

Goal-shy since the victory against Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his career. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were beaten by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the previous 14 days, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “invisible.”

He managed an incredible 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the problem is evidently not his goal conversion. In line with the coach’s repeated comments, his complete game has given Arsenal an extra dimension in attack, even if the chances have not fallen his way.

Key Moments

This was clearly apparent during the first half of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had initially seemed closely contested. There was a sense that Gyökeres was pressing too much to impress 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 first few moments was originated from some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that cleverly escaped from his opponent, José María Giménez.

Giménez 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 likely played a key role to influencing Arteta to secure the signing.

Unyielding Drive

However having faced scrutiny that he was carrying a few too many pounds after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s noticeably leaner striker chased down every ball as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was drawn into conceding a booking when Gyökeres made contact on the edge of the Atlético area having only been stationary. Gabriel Martinelli saw his goal ruled out for offside after tapping in Bukayo Saka’s cross and it only came in the second half that the Swede had his opening chance.

A exquisite touch from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to swiftly block an hesitant shot towards goal. At that stage it must have seemed as if the first score would elude him. But the dam burst when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the man in the mask left his imprint. “Ideally this is the commencement of a prolific period,” said a delighted Arteta.