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Should Viktor Gyökeres develops into the forward that every Arsenal fans have been hoping for, then perhaps they will look back on this night as the juncture his destiny turned around. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it isn’t important how they hit the back of the net.

After a run of nine matches for club and country without a goal and expectations rising on the man acquired for a hefty fee in the close season, a tremendous feeling of ease washed over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from near distance via a ricochet off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side showed again that they are here to compete this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Luck

Within moments and to the excitement of the home faithful, his mask celebration inspired by the antagonist Bane in Batman, whose famous line is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was repeated once more 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 signaled enthusiastically in the direction of his star striker, of whom he has spent the previous 14 days insisting the peak performance awaited.

“This is football, and we can’t expect a player to change contexts and have him do the same thing instantly,” the Arsenal manager remarked in a conversation with the Spanish newspaper Marca before this game. “Things are very different. Every footballer globally need one thing: their state of mind to be at its peak. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the No 9 I desired at Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they faced a goal drought without scoring. If not, you’re not cut out at this level. That’s why I have a lot of faith in him.”

Youthful Struggles

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are based in Stockholm’s southside districts, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to toughen up to thrive in his vocation. Rebuked after a disappointing display by a coach who said he lacked the mindset 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 recall it now,” he said recently.

Challenging Spell

Without a goal since the triumph over Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his professional life. Gyökeres was sharply rebuked after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “invisible.”

He managed an astounding 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the issue is obviously not his scoring ability. As the manager has often noted, his overall contribution has provided additional depth in attack, even if the chances have not fallen his way.

Key Moments

This was certainly in evidence during the opening period of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had at first appeared closely contested. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was overexerting himself to make an impact as he charged around like a bull in a china shop during the beginning phase. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the first few moments was set up by some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his opponent, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the aura of a man who could start a fight in an empty bar 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 must have gone a long way to persuading Arteta to take the plunge.

Unyielding Drive

Yet having drawn comments that he was out of shape after sitting out the buildup in Portugal, Arsenal’s noticeably leaner striker pursued each opportunity as if his life depended on it. Giménez was fooled into conceding a caution when Gyökeres ran into him on the edge of the Atlético area having simply held his position. 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 sumptuous flick from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that point it must have appeared that the opening goal would not arrive. But the goals flowed when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was able to take full advantage as the man in the mask left his imprint. “With any luck this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.