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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the forward that every Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then maybe they will look back on this night as the point his fortune turned around. In keeping with the timeless attacker’s creed, it makes no difference how they go in.

On the back 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 close range via a glance off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side demonstrated once more that they are here to compete this season.

Stunning Reversal in Form

Within moments and to the delight of the stadium crowd, his mask celebration modeled after the villain Bane in Batman, whose famous line is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was repeated once more after kneeing in from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to finish the demolition against Atlético Madrid. From the technical area, 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 peak performance awaited.

“That’s the game, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to change contexts and have him replicate his form immediately,” the Arsenal manager remarked in a conversation with the Spanish newspaper Marca prior to the match. “Things are very different. All players in the world need one thing: their state of mind to be at its best. I told Viktor in our initial discussion that the striker I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could remain strong psychologically when they went six or eight games without scoring. Failing that, you’re not good enough at this tier. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Formative Hurdles

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are situated in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first realised he would have to toughen up to succeed in his selected career. Admonished after a poor performance by a coach who said he lacked the mindset to succeed in top-level football, he ended up being converted from a flank attacker into a striker after signing for Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I think about it often,” he said not long ago.

Difficult Phase

Having failed to score since the win over Nottingham Forest in London back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his career. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were beaten by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the previous 14 days, with one newspaper describing his performance against the latter as “unnoticeable.”

He achieved an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the issue is evidently not his scoring ability. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his complete game has added a new layer in attack, even if the opportunities have not been in his favor.

Game Analysis

This was clearly apparent during the first half of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had initially seemed well-balanced. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was pressing too much to impress as he bustled about like a force of nature during the beginning phase. An Eberechi Eze shot that glanced on to the bar inside the initial stages was created by some sharp footwork on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his opponent, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the reputation of a man who could start a fight in an empty bar but is deeply knowledgeable at this stage 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 likely played a key role to persuading Arteta to take the plunge.

Constant Hustle

Nevertheless having faced scrutiny that he was carrying a few too many pounds 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 fooled into conceding a caution when Gyökeres collided with 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 did not happen until later that the Swede had his opening chance.

A exquisite touch from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an hesitant shot towards goal. Then it must have felt like the opening goal would not arrive. But the goals flowed when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the forward with the disguise made his mark. “Ideally this is the beginning of a great run,” said a delighted Arteta.