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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres develops into the striker that all Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then perhaps they will look back on this night as the moment his luck turned around. According to the classic forward’s saying, it isn’t important how they go in.

On the back of nine matches for Arsenal and Sweden without a goal and pressure mounting on the man signed for £64m in the close season, a huge wave of relief engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from close range via a glance off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side showed again that they mean business this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Luck

Shortly after and to the excitement of the local supporters, his Bane-inspired gesture modeled after the antagonist Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was given another airing after bundling over from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to finish the demolition against Atlético Madrid. On the sidelines, Arteta punched the air and signaled enthusiastically in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the peak performance awaited.

“That’s the game, and we must not assume a player to switch environments and have him replicate his form immediately,” the Arsenal manager said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca ahead of the fixture. “Things are very different. All players in the world need one thing: their psychological state to be at its peak. I advised Viktor in our introductory chat that the striker I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they went six or eight games without scoring. If not, you’re not cut out at this standard. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Formative Hurdles

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to develop a thick skin to make it in his vocation. Admonished after a subpar outing by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to excel in elite soccer, he ended up being converted from a winger into a striker after joining Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I still remember it today,” he said recently.

Testing Period

Without a goal since the win over Nottingham Forest in London back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his time in football. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the past fortnight, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “invisible.”

He managed an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances in all tournaments for Sporting last season, so the difficulty is evidently not his goal conversion. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his overall contribution has added a new layer in the final third, even if the openings have not come to him.

Key Moments

This was plainly visible during the initial 45 minutes of this elite matchup between two teams that had at first appeared well-balanced. There was a impression that Gyökeres was overexerting himself to impress as he charged around like a force of nature during the early stages. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the first few moments was created by some sharp footwork on the edge of the Atlético area that cleverly escaped from his marker, José María Giménez.

The defender has the aura of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is highly seasoned at this level compared with Gyökeres, who is competing in merely his second Champions League campaign after scoring a hat-trick for Sporting against Manchester City last season that probably significantly contributed to persuading Arteta to secure the signing.

Unyielding Drive

Nevertheless having faced scrutiny that he was carrying a few too many pounds after missing most of pre-season in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker chased down every ball as if his life depended on it. Giménez was fooled into conceding a booking when Gyökeres made contact on the edge of the Atlético area having merely stood his ground. Gabriel Martinelli saw his goal ruled out for offside after finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it wasn’t until after the break that the Swede had his first sight of goal.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to swiftly block an weak effort towards goal. At that stage it must have appeared that the opening goal would never come. But the dam burst when Gabriel headed home Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the masked striker made his mark. “Hopefully this is the commencement of a prolific period,” said a delighted Arteta.