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Should Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the forward that each Arsenal fans have been praying for, then perhaps they will reflect on this night as the juncture his destiny changed. In keeping with the timeless attacker’s creed, it doesn’t matter how they go in.

Following a streak of nine matches for Arsenal and Sweden without a goal and pressure mounting on the man signed for £64m in the summer, a tremendous feeling of ease engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres guided in from near distance via a deflection off David Hancko during a electrifying second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are here to compete this season.

Stunning Reversal in Fortune

Less than three minutes later and to the joy of the stadium crowd, his mask celebration modeled after the antagonist Bane in Batman, whose catchphrase is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was given another airing after forcing home 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 gestured animatedly in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the finest displays lay ahead.

“Such is soccer, and we must not assume a player to move leagues and have him perform identically right away,” the Arsenal manager remarked in a conversation with the Spanish newspaper Marca before this game. “Situations are not the same. Every footballer globally need one thing: their psychological state to be at its optimum. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the No 9 I sought for Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they went six or eight games without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not suited 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 recognized he would have to build resilience to thrive in his vocation. Rebuked after a subpar outing by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to succeed in elite soccer, he was eventually transformed from a flank attacker into a striker after signing for Brommapojkarna two years later. “That one stuck with me and I think about it often,” he said recently.

Difficult Phase

Goal-shy since the win over Nottingham Forest in London back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his time in football. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were overcome 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 achieved an astounding 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the difficulty is evidently not his scoring ability. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his overall contribution has provided additional depth in the final third, even if the openings have not come to him.

Key Moments

This was clearly apparent during the initial 45 minutes of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had originally looked well-balanced. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was trying too hard to make an impact as he ran aggressively like a force of nature during the beginning phase. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected 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 marker, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan 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 bagging a triple for Sporting against Manchester City last season that probably significantly contributed to persuading Arteta to take the plunge.

Constant Hustle

Nevertheless having faced scrutiny that he was carrying a few too many pounds after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker harried all opponents as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was fooled into conceding a booking 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 converting 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 set Gyökeres up perfectly, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. Then it must have felt like the opening goal would not arrive. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the masked striker left his imprint. “With any luck this is the beginning of a great run,” said a delighted Arteta.