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Should Viktor Gyökeres develops into the striker that all Arsenal followers have been hoping for, then perhaps they will recall this night as the moment his luck changed. According to the classic forward’s saying, it makes no difference how they go in.

After a run of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and pressure mounting on the man acquired for a hefty fee in the close season, a massive sense of release engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from close range via a deflection off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side demonstrated once more that they are here to compete this season.

Remarkable Shift in Luck

Less than three minutes later and to the delight of the home faithful, his mask celebration borrowed from the character Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “attention came only with the disguise,” was given another airing after forcing home from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to finish the demolition against Atlético Madrid. From the technical area, Arteta punched the air and signaled enthusiastically in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the peak performance awaited.

“Such is soccer, and we must not assume a player to switch environments and have him do the same thing instantly,” the Arsenal manager stated in a discussion with the Spanish newspaper Marca ahead of the fixture. “Circumstances vary greatly. All players in the world need one thing: their state of mind to be at its best. I advised Viktor in our first meeting that the No 9 I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they experienced a dry spell without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not cut out at this standard. That’s why I have a great belief in him.”

Early Challenges

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are based in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first realised he would have to develop a thick skin to succeed in his selected career. Rebuked after a poor performance by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to excel in professional play, he was eventually transformed from a wide player into a striker after signing for Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I still remember it today,” he said not long ago.

Challenging Spell

Without a goal since the triumph over Nottingham Forest in London back on 13 September, this has been one of the most testing periods of his career. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper describing his performance against the latter as “absent.”

He managed an incredible 54 goals in 52 appearances in all tournaments for Sporting last season, so the difficulty is clearly not his scoring ability. In line with the coach’s repeated comments, his all‑round play has added a new layer in attack, even if the chances have not fallen his way.

Key Moments

This was certainly in evidence during the initial 45 minutes of this top-level clash between two teams that had originally looked closely contested. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was pressing too much to make an impact 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 opening five minutes was set up by some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that skillfully evaded from his defender, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the air of a man who could create tension effortlessly but is deeply knowledgeable 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.

Unyielding Drive

Yet having faced scrutiny that he was out of shape after missing most of pre-season in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker pursued each opportunity as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was drawn 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 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 quickly smother an hesitant shot towards goal. At that stage it must have felt like the opening goal would elude him. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was perfectly positioned to benefit as the masked striker left his imprint. “Hopefully this is the commencement of a prolific period,” said a delighted Arteta.