🔗 Share this article Man in the Mask Gyökeres Stifles Criticism to Stamp His Authority at Arsenal In the event that Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the striker that all Arsenal fans have been hoping for, then maybe they will look back on this night as the point his luck shifted. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it isn’t important how they hit the back of the net. On the back of nine matches for club and country without a goal and expectations rising on the man acquired for a hefty fee in the offseason, a tremendous feeling of ease swept over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres tapped in from point-blank via a deflection off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side demonstrated once more that they are here to compete this season. Stunning Reversal in Fortune Less than three minutes later and to the excitement of the stadium crowd, his mask celebration inspired by the villain Bane in Batman, whose signature quote is “nobody cared until I put on the mask,” was showcased again after kneeing in from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to complete the rout against Atlético Madrid. On the sidelines, Arteta celebrated wildly and gestured animatedly in the direction of his recent signing, of whom he has spent the previous 14 days insisting the best was yet to come. “That’s the game, and we can’t expect 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 optimum. I advised Viktor in our first meeting that the No 9 I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they faced a goal drought without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not good enough at this standard. That’s why I have a lot of faith in him.” Formative Hurdles Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first realised he would have to build resilience to succeed in his chosen profession. Admonished after a disappointing display by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to succeed in top-level football, he ended up being converted from a winger into a striker after joining Brommapojkarna two years later. “That comment resonated and I recall it now,” he said in a recent interview. Challenging Spell Without a goal since the victory against Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his career. Gyökeres was widely panned after Sweden were overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the past fortnight, with one newspaper characterizing his outing against the latter as “absent.” He recorded an astounding 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the problem is obviously not his scoring ability. In line with the coach’s repeated comments, his all‑round play has added a new layer in the final third, even if the chances have not come to him. Match Highlights This was clearly apparent during the opening period of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had at first appeared evenly matched. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was pressing too much to make an impact as he bustled about like a force of nature during the early stages. An Eberechi Eze shot that bounced on to the bar inside the opening five minutes was originated from 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 create tension effortlessly 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 probably significantly contributed to influencing Arteta to secure the signing. Unyielding Drive Nevertheless having faced scrutiny that he was out of shape after sitting out the buildup in Portugal, Arsenal’s much more svelte-looking striker chased down every ball as if his future was at stake. Giménez was tricked into conceding a caution when Gyökeres collided with him 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 did not happen until later that the Swede had his opening chance. A exquisite touch from Martinelli created an ideal chance, only for Jan Oblak to promptly save an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that point it must have felt like the breakthrough would elude him. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was able to take full advantage as the masked striker made his mark. “Hopefully this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.