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If Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the forward that all Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then possibly they will reflect on this night as the moment his luck turned around. In keeping with the timeless attacker’s creed, it doesn’t matter how they find the net.

On the back of nine matches for club and country without a goal and expectations rising on the man signed for £64m in the offseason, a huge wave of relief engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from close range via a glance off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are here to compete this season.

Stunning Reversal in Fortune

Shortly after and to the delight of the local supporters, his mask celebration modeled after the antagonist 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. Down on the touchline, Arteta celebrated wildly and gestured animatedly in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the best was yet to come.

“This is football, and we must not assume a player to move leagues and have him replicate his form immediately,” the Arsenal manager said in an interview 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 best. I advised Viktor in our initial discussion that the center forward I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they went six or eight games without scoring. Failing that, you’re not suited 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 southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to toughen up to make it in his vocation. Admonished after a disappointing display by a coach who said he lacked the mindset to excel in top-level football, he ultimately switched from a wide player into a striker after signing for Brommapojkarna two years later. “That one stuck with me and I think about it often,” he said in a recent interview.

Testing Period

Having failed to score since the victory against Nottingham Forest at home back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his professional life. Gyökeres was heavily criticised after Sweden were overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the previous 14 days, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “invisible.”

He achieved an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the difficulty is clearly not his goal conversion. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his overall contribution has provided additional depth in attack, even if the opportunities have not fallen his way.

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 impression that Gyökeres was pressing too much to stand out as he bustled about like a force of nature 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 cleverly escaped from his marker, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the air of a man who could start a fight in an empty bar but is vastly experienced at this standard 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 must have gone a long way to convincing Arteta to secure the signing.

Unyielding Drive

Nevertheless having attracted criticism that he was overweight after sitting out the buildup in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker harried all opponents as if his future was at stake. Giménez was drawn into conceding a caution when Gyökeres ran into him on the edge of the Atlético area having merely stood his ground. Gabriel Martinelli saw his attempt canceled for offside after finishing Bukayo Saka’s cross and it wasn’t until after the break that the Swede had his first sight of goal.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an hesitant shot towards goal. At that point it must have seemed as if the first score would elude him. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the masked striker left his imprint. “Ideally this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.