Arsenal Opinion: Alexandre Lacazette ran the show in the Gunners’ 3-1 Europa League triumph over Valencia
Alexandre Lacazette claimed a brace, as Arsenal overcame Valencia 3-1 at the Emirates in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-final on Thursday night.
The Gunners came into the game on the back of 4 losses in their last 5 games but Unai Emery’s side managed to put up a fine display against the La Liga outfit to take a step closer to the Europa League final.
It has been a miserable week for Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, with both the teams suffering defeats in their respective first-leg clashes.
Arsenal, though, made it sure that they salvaged some pride for the Premier League fans, while Chelsea also managed to pinch a vital away goal against Eintracht Frankfurt in a 1-1 draw.
Arsenal were pretty much shambolic in the 3-0 defeat to Leicester City in the Premier League last week and the fans at the Emirates would have feared the worst for their team once again when the Gunners went 1-0 down just 11 minutes into the game.
Moukhtar Diakhaby took advantage of some statuesque set-piece defending from Shkodran Mustafi to head home the opener before Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ bizarre error at the back almost allowed the visitors another goal.
However, the Gunners managed to settle down into a good rhythm midway through the first half and started to create some opportunities. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ripped the opposition’s defence apart with a lung-busting run before threading a perfect pass to Lacazette, almost laying it on a platter for the Frenchman to draw level.
That goal was crucial, as it brought Arsenal back into the game and allowed them to recover from the trauma of conceding an early away goal in the tie.
Lacazette was once again in the thick of things and he rose above Facundo Roncaglia to beat goalkeeper Neto with a powerful header, Granit Xhaka claiming the assist with his perfectly-weighted cross. The Frenchman’s movement and perseverance to beat the Benfica defence for the second goal certainly deserve plenty of credit.
Lacazette had multiple chances to complete his hat-trick in the second half but he was denied by some resolute defending from the away side. However, it was his deflected shot that forced a save from Neto and eventually contributed to the build-up to Aubameyang’s goal in injury-time.
It was not just about the goals that he scored but Lacazette kept Arsenal going with his uncompromised work-rate when the team needed him the most.
The Gunners have been lacking that sort of power and intent in their attack in recent weeks but Lacazette’s tireless pressing often put the Valencia defence under pressure and drew those mistakes from the visitors.
In fact, it was Lacazette who started the move in the build-up to the first goal and he sprinted across almost the entire length of the pitch to get into a scoring position.
The Frenchman won an impressive 9 out of 14 duels and managed to get 4 out of his 6 shots on target. He registered 32 passes at an accuracy rate of 81.3, including 2 key passes, 1 successful long ball, 1 through ball and 3 aerial duels. Furthermore, he chipped in with 1 tackle and 2 clearances, figures which speak volumes of his overall contribution to Arsenal’s victory.
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Up next for Arsenal is a home game in the Premier League against Brighton, and the Gunners will need Lacazette to continue his good run of form to breathe life into their top-four hopes.
