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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the striker that every Arsenal supporters have been praying for, then possibly they will look back on this night as the point his luck changed. According to the classic forward’s saying, it isn’t important how they hit the back of the net.

After a run of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and expectations rising on the man signed for £64m in the summer, a huge wave of relief engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from close range via a deflection off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side showed again that they mean business this season.

Remarkable Shift in Luck

Shortly after and to the delight of the home faithful, his mask celebration borrowed from the antagonist Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “attention came only with the disguise,” was repeated once more after forcing home from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to complete the rout against Atlético Madrid. From the technical area, Arteta punched the air and signaled enthusiastically in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the best was yet to come.

“Such is soccer, and we must not assume 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 state of mind to be at its peak. I told Viktor in our initial discussion that the No 9 I sought for Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they went six or eight games without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not cut out at this tier. 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 southside districts, that Gyökeres first recognized he would have to build resilience to thrive in his selected career. Admonished after a subpar outing by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to succeed in top-level football, he ultimately switched from a flank attacker 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

Having failed to score since the victory against Nottingham Forest at home back on 13 September, this has been one of the most testing periods of his professional life. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were beaten by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “unnoticeable.”

He achieved an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the issue is evidently not his scoring ability. As the manager has often noted, his all‑round play has given Arsenal an extra dimension in attack, even if the opportunities have not come to him.

Game Analysis

This was clearly apparent during the first half of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had originally looked closely contested. There was a impression that Gyökeres was overexerting himself to make an impact as he bustled about like a bull in a china shop during the opening minutes. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the initial stages was set up by some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his opponent, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the air of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is vastly experienced at this standard compared with Gyökeres, who is participating in just his second Champions League campaign after netting three goals for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to persuading Arteta to take the plunge.

Relentless Effort

Nevertheless having drawn comments that he was overweight after missing most of pre-season in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker pursued each opportunity as if his future was at stake. Giménez was tricked 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 tapping in Bukayo Saka’s cross and it only came in the second half that the Swede had his first sight of goal.

A sumptuous flick from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to promptly save an hesitant shot towards goal. Then it must have felt like the opening goal would not arrive. But the dam burst when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was perfectly positioned to benefit as the masked striker made his mark. “With any luck this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.