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In the event that Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the forward that all Arsenal supporters have been hoping for, then perhaps they will look back on this night as the moment his luck changed. According to the classic forward’s saying, it doesn’t matter how they go in.

After a run of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and scrutiny increasing on the man signed for £64m in the offseason, a huge wave of relief swept over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from close range via a deflection off David Hancko during a electrifying second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are serious contenders this season.

Dramatic Turnaround in Luck

Within moments and to the excitement of the home faithful, his Bane-inspired gesture modeled after the antagonist Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “I was ignored before the mask,” was given another airing after forcing home from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to seal the victory against Atlético Madrid. On the sidelines, Arteta celebrated wildly and gestured animatedly in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the previous 14 days insisting the finest displays lay ahead.

“Such is soccer, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to move leagues and have him do the same thing instantly,” 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 peak. I informed Viktor in our first meeting that the No 9 I sought for Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they faced a goal drought without scoring. If not, you’re not suited at this standard. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Early Challenges

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first recognized he would have to build resilience to make it in his selected career. Rebuked after a disappointing display by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to succeed in professional play, he ended up being converted from a winger into a striker after moving to Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I still remember it today,” he said not long ago.

Testing Period

Goal-shy since the triumph over Nottingham Forest at home back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his professional life. Gyökeres was sharply rebuked after Sweden were beaten by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the past fortnight, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “invisible.”

He recorded an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the difficulty is clearly not his goal conversion. As the manager has often noted, his complete game has provided additional depth in attack, even if the openings have not been in his favor.

Game Analysis

This was certainly in evidence during the opening period of this top-level clash between two teams that had originally looked evenly matched. There was a sense that Gyökeres was pressing too much to impress as he ran aggressively like a disruptive presence during the early stages. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the first few moments was originated from some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his defender, José María Giménez.

The defender has the air of a man who could start a fight in an empty bar but is deeply knowledgeable at this level 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 likely played a key role to influencing Arteta to make the move.

Relentless Effort

Yet having faced scrutiny that he was overweight after sitting out the buildup in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker chased down every ball as if his future was at stake. Giménez was tricked into conceding a yellow card when Gyökeres collided with him on the edge of the Atlético area having merely stood his ground. Gabriel Martinelli saw his effort disallowed for offside after converting Bukayo Saka’s cross and it wasn’t until after the break that the Swede had his opening chance.

A exquisite touch from Martinelli set Gyökeres up perfectly, only for Jan Oblak to swiftly block an weak effort towards goal. At that stage it must have seemed as if the first score would elude him. But the dam burst when Gabriel nodded in Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the man in the mask made his mark. “Ideally this is the commencement of a prolific period,” said a delighted Arteta.