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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres develops into the forward that each Arsenal fans have been hoping for, then possibly they will look back on this night as the point his destiny shifted. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it makes no difference how they go in.

After a run of nine matches for club and country without a goal and scrutiny increasing on the man signed for £64m in the summer, a huge wave of relief swept over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from point-blank via a deflection off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side showed again that they mean business this season.

Remarkable Shift in Form

Less than three minutes later and to the delight of the home faithful, his mask celebration inspired by the antagonist Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “I was ignored before the mask,” was repeated once more after bundling over from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to finish the demolition against Atlético Madrid. Down on the touchline, Arteta punched the air and motioned emphatically in the direction of his star striker, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the best was yet to come.

“Such is soccer, and we can’t expect a player to change contexts and have him do the same thing instantly,” the Arsenal manager remarked in a conversation with the Spanish newspaper Marca prior to the match. “Things are very different. Every footballer globally need one thing: their state of mind to be at its peak. I told Viktor in our initial discussion that the center forward I desired at Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they went six or eight games without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not cut out at this level. That’s why I have a great belief 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 thrive in his chosen profession. Admonished after a subpar outing by a coach who said he lacked the mindset to excel 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 still remember it today,” he said recently.

Testing Period

Without a goal since the triumph over Nottingham Forest at home back on 13 September, this has been one of the most testing periods of his professional life. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the previous 14 days, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “absent.”

He achieved an incredible 54 goals in 52 appearances throughout the season for Sporting last season, so the issue is obviously not his scoring ability. As the manager has often noted, his all‑round play has provided additional depth in offense, even if the openings have not been in his favor.

Key Moments

This was plainly visible during the initial 45 minutes of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had originally looked evenly matched. There was a sense that Gyökeres was overexerting himself to impress as he ran aggressively like a disruptive presence during the beginning phase. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the first few moments was originated from some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that cleverly escaped from his marker, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the air of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is vastly experienced at this level compared with Gyökeres, who is competing in merely his second Champions League campaign after netting three goals for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to influencing Arteta to secure the signing.

Unyielding Drive

Nevertheless having drawn comments that he was out of shape after missing most of pre-season in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker chased down every ball as if his life depended on it. Giménez was tricked 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 effort disallowed for offside after finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it only came in the second half that the Swede had his first sight of goal.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli set Gyökeres up perfectly, only for Jan Oblak to swiftly block an hesitant shot towards goal. Then it must have seemed as if the first score would never come. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel headed home Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was perfectly positioned to benefit as the forward with the disguise made his mark. “Ideally this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.