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Should Viktor Gyökeres develops into the striker that all Arsenal followers have been wishing for, then maybe they will reflect on this night as the moment his luck changed. 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 offseason, a huge wave of relief washed over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from point-blank via a deflection off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side showed again that they are serious contenders this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Form

Shortly after and to the joy of the stadium crowd, his Bane-inspired gesture modeled after the antagonist Bane in Batman, whose catchphrase is “attention came only with the disguise,” was given another airing after kneeing in from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to complete the rout against Atlético Madrid. On the sidelines, Arteta celebrated wildly and gestured animatedly in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the peak performance awaited.

“That’s the game, 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 before this game. “Circumstances vary greatly. Every footballer globally need one thing: their mental condition to be at its peak. I advised Viktor in our initial discussion that the No 9 I sought for Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they experienced a dry spell without scoring. If not, you’re not suited at this level. That’s why I have a lot of faith in him.”

Early Challenges

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are based in Stockholm’s southside districts, that Gyökeres first recognized he would have to build resilience to thrive in his vocation. Admonished after a poor performance by a coach who said he lacked the mindset to excel in top-level football, he ended up being converted from a wide player into a striker after signing for Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I recall it now,” he said recently.

Testing Period

Having failed to score since the triumph over Nottingham Forest in London back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his professional life. Gyökeres was sharply rebuked 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 “unnoticeable.”

He managed an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the problem is clearly not his finishing. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his complete game has provided additional depth in offense, even if the opportunities have not come to him.

Key Moments

This was certainly in evidence during the initial 45 minutes of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had originally looked closely contested. There was a sense that Gyökeres was pressing too much to impress as he charged around like a disruptive presence during the opening minutes. An Eberechi Eze shot that glanced on to the bar inside the initial stages was set up by some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that cleverly escaped from his marker, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the reputation of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is deeply knowledgeable at this level compared with Gyökeres, who is participating in just his second Champions League campaign after bagging a triple for Sporting against Manchester City last season that likely played a key role to influencing Arteta to make the move.

Relentless Effort

However having attracted criticism that he was overweight after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s noticeably leaner striker chased down every ball as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was drawn into conceding a yellow card when Gyökeres ran into him on the edge of the Atlético area having only been stationary. Gabriel Martinelli saw his goal ruled out for offside after finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it only came in the second half that the Swede had his initial opportunity.

A exquisite touch from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to promptly save an weak effort towards goal. Then it must have seemed as if the first score would elude him. 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 made his mark. “Hopefully this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.