Boss: Fans will be back
see them sneak into the Champions League via the back door.
For much of this game Arsenal were so bad it wasn’t safe for under-fire manager Arsene Wenger to come out of the dugout.
The fans who did bother to show up – there were huge gaps once more at the Emirates and the announced attendance of 59,371 was once again far from reality – were already fuming over a dreadful first-half display.
Arsenal’s sloppy players really needed a rollocking to spark them into life.
They repeatedly failed to complete passes while also making needless mistakes in possession at the back.
But Wenger, the target for most fans’ frustrations these days and perhaps fearing his presence might make things worse, chose to stay glued to his seat in the dugout.
However, despite losing his voice this week, Wenger managed to find the right words in the dressing room at half-time to make the difference. Finally there was some intensity in Arsenal’s play in the second half.
And after Shaqiri’s corner beat David Ospina and hit his far post they got an even bigger slice of fortune at the other end.
Aubameyang took full advantage of referee Craig Pawson’s generosity to wrongfoot keeper Jack Butland and hand Arsenal an undeserved 75th-minute lead.
With four minutes to go Aubameyang – who paid tribute to his grandmother
Marina after she passed away last week by shaving her name into his head – volleyed in his second after defender Shkodran
Mustafi had flicked on Ozil’s corner.
And the £56million January signing passed up the chance to grab a hat-trick when he let Lacazette take and convert the last-minute penalty the Frenchman won when he was bundled over by Badou Ndiaye.
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ARSENE WENGER admitted Arsenal’s poor League form has made fans vote with their feet. The Gunners saw off Stoke but once again there were thousands of empty seats at the Emirates.
While the attendance was announced as 59,371 it was closer to 40,000. But Wenger, looking ahead to Thursday’s Europa League clash with CSKA Moscow, said: “The fans will be back on Thursday, don’t worry.
“It is Easter, a family happening, and in people’s minds we haven’t a lot to go for in the Premier League.”
The home fans, who booed the Gunners off at the break, were restless again yesterday until Pierre-emerick Aubameyang’s late brace.
The Gabon striker also let Alexandre Lacazette take a second penalty rather than complete what would have been his first Gunners hat-trick.
Manager Wenger said: “That shows the state of our society... when people are generous we are surprised.”