If Viktor Gyökeres goes on to become the striker that all Arsenal supporters have been praying for, then perhaps they will look back on this night as the moment his fortune changed. As the old striker’s mantra goes, it doesn’t matter how they go in.

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

Less than three minutes later and to the delight of the home faithful, his mask celebration inspired by the villain Bane in Batman, whose catchphrase is “nobody cared until I put on the mask”, 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 gestured animatedly in the direction of his new centre forward, of whom he has spent the last fortnight insisting the best was yet...