🔗 Share this article

In the event that Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the striker that all Arsenal fans have been wishing for, then maybe they will reflect on this night as the juncture his destiny turned around. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it makes no difference how they find the net.

On the back of nine matches for club and country without a goal and scrutiny increasing on the man brought in for a substantial sum in the close season, a massive sense of release washed over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from point-blank via a ricochet off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they are here to compete this season.

Remarkable Shift in Luck

Shortly after and to the excitement of the stadium crowd, his face-covering routine inspired by the character Bane in Batman, whose catchphrase is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was given another airing after forcing home 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 signaled enthusiastically in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the past two weeks insisting the peak performance awaited.

“This is football, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to switch environments 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 psychological state to be at its best. I told Viktor in our initial discussion that the striker I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could stay resilient when they experienced a dry spell without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not good enough at this level. That’s why I have a lot of faith in him.”

Formative Hurdles

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are based in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to develop a thick skin to make it in his vocation. Admonished after a subpar outing by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to make it in top-level football, he ultimately switched from a winger into a striker after moving to Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I recall it now,” he said recently.

Testing Period

Without a goal since the victory against Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the hardest times of his time in football. Gyökeres was sharply rebuked after Sweden were defeated by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the previous 14 days, with one newspaper describing his performance against the latter as “unnoticeable.”

He achieved an remarkable 54 goals in 52 appearances in all tournaments for Sporting last season, so the difficulty is evidently not his scoring ability. In line with the coach’s repeated comments, his complete game has provided additional depth in the final third, even if the openings have not been in his favor.

Key Moments

This was clearly apparent during the opening period of this elite matchup between two teams that had originally looked well-balanced. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was trying too hard to stand out 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 set up by some sharp footwork on the edge of the Atlético area that cleverly escaped from his marker, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the air of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is deeply knowledgeable at this standard compared with Gyökeres, who is participating in just his second Champions League campaign after bagging a triple for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to convincing Arteta to secure the signing.

Constant Hustle

However having drawn comments that he was out of shape after sitting out the buildup in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker pursued each opportunity 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 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 created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to promptly save an weak effort towards goal. Then it must have seemed as if the opening goal would elude him. But the goals flowed when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was perfectly positioned to benefit as the man in the mask left his imprint. “With any luck this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.