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Should Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the forward that all Arsenal supporters have been praying for, then maybe they will reflect on this night as the point his luck turned around. In keeping with the timeless attacker’s creed, it isn’t important how they go in.

On the back of nine matches for club and country without a goal and expectations rising on the man signed for £64m in the offseason, a massive sense of release swept over 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 Form

Shortly after and to the delight of the local supporters, his mask celebration modeled after the character 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 finish the demolition against Atlético Madrid. On the sidelines, Arteta raised his fists and gestured animatedly in the direction of his star striker, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the finest displays lay ahead.

“This is football, and we can’t expect a player to move leagues and have him do the same thing instantly,” the Arsenal manager said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca prior to the match. “Things are very different. Every footballer globally need one thing: their mental condition to be at its optimum. I told Viktor in our initial discussion that the No 9 I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could remain strong psychologically when they experienced a dry spell without scoring. If not, you’re not cut out at this tier. That’s why I have a great belief in him.”

Youthful Struggles

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first realised he would have to develop a thick skin to thrive in his vocation. Admonished after a poor performance by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to succeed in top-level football, he ended up being converted from a flank attacker into a striker after moving to Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I think about it often,” he said in a recent interview.

Testing Period

Having failed to score since the triumph over Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his career. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the previous 14 days, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “absent.”

He recorded an incredible 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the problem is obviously not his finishing. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his all‑round play has provided additional depth in the final third, even if the chances have not come to him.

Match Highlights

This was certainly in evidence during the opening period of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had initially seemed evenly matched. There was a sense that Gyökeres was pressing too much to impress as he charged around like a disruptive presence during the early stages. An Eberechi Eze shot that bounced on to the bar inside the initial stages was set up by some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his defender, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the air of a man who could start a fight in an empty bar but is deeply knowledgeable at this standard 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 influencing Arteta to secure the signing.

Relentless Effort

Nevertheless having drawn comments that he was out of shape after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s much more svelte-looking striker chased down every ball as if his life depended on it. Giménez was drawn into conceding a booking 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 finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it wasn’t until after the break that the Swede had his initial opportunity.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to swiftly block an hesitant shot towards goal. At that point it must have seemed as if the first score 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 man in the mask announced his presence. “Hopefully this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.