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If Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the striker that every Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then possibly they will look back on this night as the moment his fortune shifted. According to the classic forward’s saying, it isn’t important how they hit the back of the net.

On the back 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 massive sense of release engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from point-blank via a deflection off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are here to compete this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Luck

Shortly after and to the joy of the home faithful, his face-covering routine inspired by the villain Bane in Batman, whose famous line is “attention came only with the disguise,” was repeated once more after bundling over 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 signaled enthusiastically in the direction of his star striker, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the peak performance awaited.

“Such is soccer, and we can’t expect a player to change contexts and have him perform identically right away,” the Arsenal manager stated in a discussion with the Spanish newspaper Marca prior to the match. “Circumstances vary greatly. Each athlete anywhere need one thing: their mental condition to be at its optimum. I told Viktor in our first meeting that the center forward I desired at Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they experienced a dry spell without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not suited at this tier. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Early Challenges

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first realised he would have to build resilience to thrive in his selected career. Admonished after a poor performance by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to excel in professional play, he was eventually transformed from a winger into a striker after moving to Brommapojkarna two years later. “That one stuck with me and I recall it now,” he said not long ago.

Testing Period

Goal-shy since the win over Nottingham Forest at home back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his time in football. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “invisible.”

He achieved an astounding 54 goals in 52 appearances in all tournaments for Sporting last season, so the issue is obviously not his scoring ability. In line with the coach’s repeated comments, his complete game has given Arsenal an extra dimension in the final third, even if the openings have not been in his favor.

Game Analysis

This was certainly in evidence during the initial 45 minutes of this elite matchup between two teams that had at first appeared closely contested. There was a impression that Gyökeres was trying too hard to stand out as he ran aggressively like a bull in a china shop during the early stages. An Eberechi Eze shot that bounced on to the bar inside the first few moments was created by some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his defender, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the reputation of a man who could create tension effortlessly but is vastly experienced at this stage compared with Gyökeres, who is playing in only his second Champions League campaign after bagging a triple for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to influencing Arteta to take the plunge.

Constant Hustle

Nevertheless having faced scrutiny that he was overweight after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s much more svelte-looking striker chased down every ball as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was fooled into conceding a booking when Gyökeres made contact on the edge of the Atlético area having simply held his position. Gabriel Martinelli saw his effort disallowed for offside after converting Bukayo Saka’s cross and it only came in the second half that the Swede had his opening chance.

A sumptuous flick from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to swiftly block an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that stage it must have appeared that the opening goal would elude him. But the goals flowed when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the masked striker made his mark. “With any luck this is the commencement of a prolific period,” said a delighted Arteta.