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If Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the striker that every Arsenal fans have been hoping for, then perhaps they will reflect on this night as the moment his luck shifted. In keeping with the timeless attacker’s creed, it doesn’t matter how they hit the back of the net.

On the back of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and pressure mounting on the man brought in for a substantial sum in the offseason, a tremendous feeling of ease swept over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres guided in from near distance via a deflection off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again 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 face-covering routine inspired by the villain Bane in Batman, whose famous line is “I was ignored before the mask,” was given another airing after kneeing in from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to complete the rout against Atlético Madrid. Down on the touchline, Arteta celebrated wildly and gestured animatedly in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the peak performance awaited.

“That’s the game, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to move leagues and have him perform identically right away,” 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 informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the center forward I sought for Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they faced a goal drought without scoring. Failing that, you’re not cut out at this level. That’s why I have a lot of faith in him.”

Formative Hurdles

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are based in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first realised he would have to develop a thick skin to make it in his vocation. Criticised after a poor performance by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to excel in top-level football, he was eventually transformed from a flank attacker into a striker after joining Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I think about it often,” he said recently.

Challenging Spell

Goal-shy since the win over Nottingham Forest in London back on 13 September, this has been one of the most testing periods of his career. Gyökeres was sharply rebuked 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 “unnoticeable.”

He managed an incredible 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the problem is obviously not his goal conversion. As the manager has often noted, his complete game has given Arsenal an extra dimension in offense, even if the chances have not been in his favor.

Match Highlights

This was clearly apparent during the first half of this elite matchup between two teams that had at first appeared closely contested. There was a impression that Gyökeres was pressing too much to stand out as he ran aggressively like a bull in a china shop during the opening minutes. An Eberechi Eze shot that glanced on to the bar inside the initial stages was set up by some sharp footwork on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his defender, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the air of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is vastly experienced at this stage compared with Gyökeres, who is competing in merely his second Champions League campaign after netting three goals for Sporting against Manchester City last season that likely played a key role to influencing Arteta to secure the signing.

Unyielding Drive

Yet having faced scrutiny that he was out of shape after missing most of pre-season in Portugal, Arsenal’s noticeably leaner striker pursued each opportunity as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was tricked into conceding a caution 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 converting Bukayo Saka’s cross and it did not happen until later that the Swede had his opening chance.

A exquisite touch from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an hesitant shot towards goal. At that point it must have felt like the first score would never come. But the dam burst when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the forward with the disguise left his imprint. “Ideally this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.