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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres develops into the forward that every Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then possibly they will reflect on this night as the point his luck shifted. According to the classic forward’s saying, it doesn’t matter how they hit the back of the net.

Following a streak of nine matches for Arsenal and Sweden without a goal and pressure mounting on the man signed for £64m in the close season, a tremendous feeling of ease swept over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from point-blank via a deflection off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are serious contenders this season.

Remarkable Shift in Fortune

Less than three minutes later and to the joy of the stadium crowd, his Bane-inspired gesture modeled after the character Bane in Batman, whose famous line 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 raised his fists and gestured animatedly in the direction of his star striker, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the best was yet to come.

“That’s the game, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to change contexts and have him replicate his form immediately,” the Arsenal manager said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca before this game. “Situations are not the same. All players in the world need one thing: their mental condition to be at its optimum. I advised Viktor in our first meeting that the center forward I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they faced a goal drought without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not good enough at this tier. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Formative Hurdles

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are based in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first recognized he would have to toughen up to make it in his vocation. Criticised after a subpar outing by a coach who said he lacked the mindset to succeed in top-level football, he ended up being converted from a winger into a striker after signing for Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I recall it now,” he said recently.

Challenging Spell

Without a goal since the win 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 overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the past fortnight, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “invisible.”

He achieved an astounding 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 overall contribution has given Arsenal an extra dimension in offense, even if the chances have not been in his favor.

Match Highlights

This was clearly apparent during the opening period of this top-level clash between two teams that had initially seemed well-balanced. There was a sense that Gyökeres was trying too hard to stand out as he charged around like a bull in a china shop during the opening minutes. An Eberechi Eze shot that glanced on to the bar inside the opening five minutes was originated from some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his opponent, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the air of a man who could create tension effortlessly but is highly seasoned at this stage 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 likely played a key role to influencing Arteta to secure the signing.

Unyielding Drive

Yet having drawn comments that he was overweight 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 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 opening chance.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an hesitant shot towards goal. Then it must have seemed as if the breakthrough would not arrive. But the goals flowed when Gabriel headed home Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the masked striker announced his presence. “Hopefully this is the commencement of a prolific period,” said a delighted Arteta.