Man in the Mask Gyökeres Stifles Criticism to Leave an Impression at Arsenal

Should Viktor Gyökeres transforms into the forward that each Arsenal followers have been wishing for, then maybe they will look back on this night as the point his fortune changed. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it isn’t important how they find the net.

After a run of nine matches for his team and national side without a goal and pressure mounting on the man signed for £64m in the close season, a tremendous feeling of ease swept over the Emirates Stadium when Gyökeres scuffed home from near distance via a glance off David Hancko during a electrifying second half when Mikel Arteta’s side proved yet again that they mean business this season.

Remarkable Shift in Luck

Less than three minutes later and to the joy of the stadium crowd, his face-covering routine modeled after the villain Bane in Batman, whose catchphrase is “I was ignored before the mask,” was showcased again after kneeing in from Gabriel Magalhães’s header following a Declan Rice corner to finish the demolition against Atlético Madrid. From the technical area, Arteta punched the air and motioned emphatically in the direction of his star striker, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the finest displays lay ahead.

“That’s the game, and we must not assume a player to switch environments and have him do the same thing instantly,” the Arsenal manager remarked in a conversation with the Spanish newspaper Marca ahead of the fixture. “Situations are not the same. All players in the world need one thing: their state of mind to be at its optimum. I informed Viktor in our first meeting that the No 9 I desired at Arsenal was someone who could hold up mentally when they went six or eight games without scoring. Otherwise, you’re not cut out at this tier. That’s why I have a lot of faith in him.”

Youthful Struggles

Back in his early teens playing for IFK Aspudden-Tellus, who are situated in Stockholm’s outskirts, that Gyökeres first understood he would have to build resilience to succeed in his vocation. Admonished after a subpar outing by a coach who said he didn’t have the mentality to excel 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 in a recent interview.

Testing Period

Goal-shy since the win over Nottingham Forest in London back on 13 September, this has been one of the toughest stretches of his career. Gyökeres was sharply rebuked after Sweden were overcome by Kosovo and Switzerland in World Cup qualifiers in the last two weeks, with one newspaper labeling his display against the latter as “invisible.”

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. As Arteta has frequently pointed out, his all‑round play has given Arsenal an extra dimension in the final third, even if the opportunities have not been in his favor.

Match Highlights

This was certainly in evidence during the opening period of this high‑quality encounter between two teams that had at first appeared closely contested. There was a feeling that Gyökeres was overexerting himself to stand out as he bustled about like a force of nature during the opening minutes. An Eberechi Eze shot that deflected on to the bar inside the opening five minutes was created by some sharp footwork on the edge of the Atlético area that niftily took him away from his defender, José María Giménez.

The Uruguayan has the aura of a man who could provoke conflict anywhere but is vastly experienced at this stage compared with Gyökeres, who is participating in just his second Champions League campaign after netting three goals for Sporting against Manchester City last season that must have gone a long way to persuading Arteta to take the plunge.

Constant Hustle

Yet having attracted criticism that he was carrying a few too many pounds after being absent for preparations in Portugal, Arsenal’s much more svelte-looking striker chased down every ball as if his life depended on it. Giménez was fooled into conceding a yellow card when Gyökeres made contact on the edge of the Atlético area having only been stationary. Gabriel Martinelli saw his goal ruled out for offside after converting Bukayo Saka’s cross and it did not happen until later that the Swede had his opening chance.

A sumptuous flick from Martinelli set Gyökeres up perfectly, only for Jan Oblak to quickly smother an unconvincing toe-poke towards goal. At that point it must have appeared that the opening goal would not arrive. 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 made his mark. “Hopefully this is the beginning of a great run,” said a delighted Arteta.