Man in the Mask Gyökeres Stifles Jibes to Make His Mark at Arsenal

Should Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the striker that every Arsenal supporters have been wishing for, then possibly they will look back on this night as the moment his destiny shifted. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it doesn’t matter how they go in.

Following a streak of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and pressure mounting on the man brought in for a substantial sum in the summer, a massive sense of release engulfed the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres guided in from close range via a glance off David Hancko during a thrilling second half when Mikel Arteta’s side demonstrated once more that they are here to compete this season.

Remarkable Shift in Luck

Shortly after and to the excitement of the home faithful, his mask celebration modeled after the character Bane in Batman, whose famous line 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 seal the victory against Atlético Madrid. Down on the touchline, Arteta celebrated wildly and gestured animatedly in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the best was yet to come.

“This is football, and we can’t expect a player to switch environments and have him perform identically right away,” the Arsenal manager said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper Marca ahead of the fixture. “Things are very different. Each athlete anywhere need one thing: their state of mind to be at its best. I informed Viktor in our initial discussion that the No 9 I desired at Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they faced a goal drought without scoring. Failing that, you’re not suited at this tier. 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 situated in Stockholm’s southern suburbs, that Gyökeres first recognized he would have to develop a thick skin to make it in his vocation. Admonished after a disappointing display by a coach who said he was not mentally equipped to succeed in professional play, 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 not long ago.

Challenging Spell

Having failed to score since the win over Nottingham Forest here back on 13 September, this has been one of the most testing periods of his professional life. Gyökeres was heavily criticised 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 “absent.”

He recorded an astounding 54 goals in 52 appearances across all competitions for Sporting last season, so the issue is evidently not his goal conversion. As the manager has often noted, his overall contribution has added a new layer in offense, even if the openings have not been in his favor.

Match Highlights

This was certainly in evidence during the initial 45 minutes of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had originally looked closely contested. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was overexerting himself to make an impact as he ran aggressively like a force of nature during the early stages. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the first few moments was created by some quick moves on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his marker, José María Giménez.

Giménez has the air of a man who could create tension effortlessly but is vastly experienced at this level compared with Gyökeres, who is competing in merely his second Champions League campaign after scoring a hat-trick for Sporting against Manchester City last season that probably significantly contributed to persuading Arteta to secure the signing.

Relentless Effort

However having attracted criticism that he was out of shape after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s considerably trimmer striker harried all opponents as if his career hung in the balance. Giménez was fooled into conceding a yellow card 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 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 set Gyökeres up perfectly, only for Jan Oblak to promptly save an hesitant shot towards goal. At that stage it must have seemed as if the first score would never come. But the dam burst when Gabriel scored with a header Rice’s free-kick and Gyökeres was able to take full advantage as the man in the mask left his imprint. “Hopefully this is the beginning of a great run,” said a delighted Arteta.