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If Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the attacker that all Arsenal followers have been praying for, then maybe they will recall this night as the moment his destiny shifted. In keeping with the timeless attacker’s creed, it isn’t important how they go in.

Following a streak of nine matches for Arsenal and Sweden without a goal and pressure mounting on the man brought in for a substantial sum in the close season, a huge wave of relief swept over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from near distance via a ricochet off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are here to compete this season.

Stunning Reversal in Luck

Within moments and to the joy of the stadium crowd, his mask celebration borrowed from the character Bane in Batman, whose famous line is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was repeated once more after bundling over from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to complete the rout against Atlético Madrid. Down on the touchline, Arteta raised his fists 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.

“This is football, and we must not assume a player to move leagues and have him replicate his form immediately,” the Arsenal manager stated in a discussion with the Spanish newspaper Marca prior to the match. “Situations are not the same. Every footballer globally need one thing: their mental condition to be at its optimum. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the striker I desired at Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they faced a goal drought without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not suited at this tier. That’s why I have a great belief in him.”

Formative Hurdles

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are situated in Stockholm’s southside districts, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to build resilience to thrive in his chosen profession. Admonished after a poor performance by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to excel in elite soccer, he ended up being converted from a winger into a striker after moving to Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I think about it often,” he said not long ago.

Testing Period

Having failed to score since the win over Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his career. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the previous 14 days, 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 problem is obviously not his scoring ability. In line with the coach’s repeated comments, his overall contribution has added a new layer in attack, even if the chances have not fallen his way.

Key Moments

This was clearly apparent during the first half of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had at first appeared closely contested. There was a sense that Gyökeres was pressing too much to make an impact as he ran aggressively like a disruptive presence during the beginning phase. An Eberechi Eze shot that bounced on to the bar inside the initial stages was originated from some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his defender, José María Giménez.

The defender 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 scoring a hat-trick for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to influencing Arteta to make the move.

Constant Hustle

Yet having drawn comments that he was out of shape after sitting out the buildup in Portugal, Arsenal’s much more svelte-looking striker pursued each opportunity as if his life depended on it. Giménez was tricked into conceding a booking when Gyökeres collided with him on the edge of the Atlético area having only been stationary. Gabriel Martinelli saw his goal ruled out for offside after tapping in Bukayo Saka’s cross and it did not happen until later that the Swede had his first sight of goal.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that point it must have seemed as if the breakthrough would elude him. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the man in the mask made his mark. “Ideally this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.