Masked Man Gyökeres Stifles Jibes to Make His Mark at Arsenal

In the event that Viktor Gyökeres develops into the attacker that every Arsenal fans have been wishing for, then possibly they will reflect on this night as the juncture his destiny shifted. In keeping with the timeless attacker’s creed, it isn’t important how they hit the back of the net.

After a run of nine matches for club and country without a goal and pressure mounting on the man signed for £64m in the close season, a huge wave of relief engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from point-blank via a ricochet off David Hancko during a pulsating second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they mean business this season.

Remarkable Shift in Fortune

Shortly after and to the delight of the home faithful, his face-covering routine modeled after the antagonist Bane in Batman, whose signature quote 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 punched the air and signaled enthusiastically in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the finest displays lay ahead.

“That’s the game, and we shouldn’t anticipate a player to move leagues and have him replicate his form immediately,” the Arsenal manager stated in a discussion with the Spanish newspaper Marca ahead of the fixture. “Circumstances vary greatly. All players in the world need one thing: their psychological state to be at its peak. I advised Viktor in our initial discussion that the center forward I wanted for Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they faced a goal drought without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not cut out at this level. That’s why I have a strong confidence in him.”

Early Challenges

It was as a 14-year-old playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are located in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to develop a thick skin to thrive in his chosen profession. Admonished after a poor performance by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to excel in elite soccer, he ended up being converted from a flank attacker into a striker after signing for Brommapojkarna two years later. “Those words lingered and I still remember it today,” he said in a recent interview.

Testing Period

Goal-shy since the victory against Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his professional life. Gyökeres was sharply rebuked 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 recorded an astounding 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the issue is clearly not his finishing. In line with the coach’s repeated comments, his complete game has provided additional depth in offense, even if the chances have not come to him.

Key Moments

This was clearly apparent during the first half of this elite matchup between two teams that had at first appeared well-balanced. There was a sense that Gyökeres was pressing too much to impress as he charged around like a force of nature during the beginning phase. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the initial stages was created by some clever dribbling on the edge of the Atlético area that skillfully evaded from his defender, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the aura of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is vastly experienced at this standard compared with Gyökeres, who is competing in merely 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 secure the signing.

Relentless Effort

However having drawn comments that he was carrying a few too many pounds after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker chased down every ball as if his life depended on it. Giménez was drawn into conceding a yellow card when Gyökeres ran into him on the edge of the Atlético area having only been stationary. Gabriel Martinelli saw his effort disallowed for offside after tapping in Bukayo Saka’s cross and it did not happen until later that the Swede had his first sight of goal.

A brilliant pass from Martinelli provided a golden opportunity, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. Then it must have seemed as if the opening goal would never come. But the floodgates opened when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was ready to capitalize as the masked striker announced his presence. “With any luck this is the start of some beautiful sequences,” said a delighted Arteta.