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If Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the forward that all Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then perhaps they will recall this night as the moment his destiny turned around. According to the classic forward’s saying, it doesn’t matter how they find the net.

After a run of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and scrutiny increasing on the man signed for £64m in the summer, a huge wave of relief engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from point-blank via a ricochet off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are here to compete this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Luck

Less than three minutes later and to the delight of the home faithful, his mask celebration borrowed from the villain Bane in Batman, whose signature quote 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. Down on the touchline, Arteta punched the air and gestured animatedly in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the best was yet to come.

“Such is soccer, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to move leagues and have him perform identically right away,” the Arsenal manager stated in a discussion with the Spanish newspaper Marca ahead of the fixture. “Situations are not the same. Every footballer globally need one thing: their state of mind to be at its peak. I informed Viktor in our first meeting that the center forward I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could remain strong psychologically when they faced a goal drought without scoring. If not, you’re not good enough at this standard. That’s why I have a great belief in him.”

Early Challenges

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are based in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first realised he would have to toughen up to succeed in his vocation. Admonished after a disappointing display by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to succeed in top-level football, he ultimately switched from a flank attacker into a striker after joining Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I think about it often,” he said recently.

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 professional life. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the past fortnight, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “invisible.”

He recorded an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the problem is evidently not his scoring ability. As the manager has often noted, his complete game has given Arsenal an extra dimension in attack, even if the openings have not fallen his way.

Match Highlights

This was clearly apparent during the opening period of this elite matchup between two teams that had at first appeared closely contested. There was a impression that Gyökeres was overexerting himself 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 first few moments was created by some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his defender, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the reputation of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is deeply knowledgeable at this stage compared with Gyökeres, who is playing in only his second Champions League campaign after netting three goals for Sporting against Manchester City last season that probably significantly contributed to influencing Arteta to take the plunge.

Unyielding Drive

Yet having faced scrutiny that he was out of shape after missing most of pre-season 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 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 exquisite touch from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to promptly save an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. Then it must have seemed as if 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 masked striker announced his presence. “With any luck this is the commencement of a prolific period,” said a delighted Arteta.