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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the forward that each Arsenal fans have been praying for, then maybe they will look back on this night as the point his destiny changed. According to the classic forward’s saying, it makes no difference how they hit the back of the net.

Following a streak of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and scrutiny increasing on the man signed for £64m in the offseason, a tremendous feeling of ease washed 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 demonstrated once more that they are serious contenders this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Fortune

Within moments and to the joy of the home faithful, his mask celebration inspired by the villain Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “attention came only with the disguise,” was given another airing after forcing home from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to seal the victory against Atlético Madrid. From the technical area, Arteta raised his fists and motioned emphatically in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the best was yet to come.

“This is football, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to switch environments and have him perform identically right away,” the Arsenal manager remarked in a conversation with the Spanish newspaper Marca before this game. “Things are very different. All players in the world need one thing: their mental condition to be at its best. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the striker I wanted 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.”

Early Challenges

When he was just 14 playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s southside districts, that Gyökeres first realised he would have to build resilience to thrive in his chosen profession. Rebuked after a disappointing display by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to make it in top-level football, he ultimately switched from a wide player into a striker after moving to Brommapojkarna two years later. “That one stuck with me and I think about it often,” he said in a recent interview.

Challenging Spell

Having failed to score since the victory against Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his career. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the past fortnight, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “unnoticeable.”

He managed an incredible 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the issue is clearly not his finishing. As the manager has often noted, his all‑round play has given Arsenal an extra dimension in attack, even if the opportunities have not fallen his way.

Game Analysis

This was certainly in evidence during the opening period of this elite matchup between two teams that had initially seemed evenly matched. There was a impression that Gyökeres was trying too hard to stand out as he ran aggressively like a force of nature during the early stages. 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 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 influencing Arteta to take the plunge.

Constant Hustle

However having drawn comments 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 future was at stake. Giménez was fooled into conceding a yellow card when Gyökeres made contact 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 only came in the second half that the Swede had his opening chance.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to promptly save an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that point it must have seemed as if the opening goal would not arrive. But the dam burst when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was able to take full advantage as the forward with the disguise left his imprint. “With any luck this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.