AUBAMEYANG AT THE DOUBLE
Hot-shot striker leads charge as Emery’s men start with a bang
ARSENAL travel to Baku next month for their second Europa League group fixture, but Unai Emery is clearly planning for a return trip for the final in May.
His Arsenal team took a while to get going here but goals from Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang, Danny Welbeck and Mesut Ozil ensured an easy victory.
People will rightly point to the opposition. Vorskla hardly laid a glove on Arsenal until Volodymyr Chesnakov’s stunning late finish and a strike from Vyachelsav Sharpar with the last kick. Nevertheless, the Gunners were clinical and Gabon striker Aubameyang, who particularly caught the eye, was ruthless in front of goal.
Emery said: ‘Our first 60 minutes, we impressed our idea on them but we want to be competitive for 90 minutes and our disappointment today is the two goals conceded. I want to continue being competitive and going forward to score more goals and not conceding. But there are a lot of positive things to take from today.’
Aubameyang agreed: ‘We have to improve and try to fight, and not concede a goal like we did in the last minute,’ he said. ‘But we played well in the first half and the beginning of the second.
‘I didn’t play last year in the Europa League with the guys. So I’m really happy to be back in this competition and we want to go to the final of course. It’s good to start with a win, and the next game will be important also.’
Emery’s revolution is slowly taking shape. Judgment on Arsene Wenger’s successor will be reserved until much later in the season, which is only fair. The current signs, though, are promising.
And no one could ever accuse the Spaniard of downgrading the Europa League in his list of priorities. The fact he has won the competition three times with Sevilla illustrates just how seriously he takes it.
So did his team selection, a surprisingly strong starting XI with summer signings Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira and Stephan Lichtsteiner all given their full debuts.
Arsenal made it to the semi-final of this competition last season where they were eventually outmuscled by Atletico Madrid, who went on to lift the trophy.
With Champions League qualification through domestic avenues harder than ever to achieve, Emery seems intent on making the most of the Europa League as he seeks a place back at European football’s top table. It is a shame Arsenal’s fans don’t share his enthusiasm.
In his pre-match press conference, con the Arsenalal manager manesire spoke of his desiremanesire to ‘excite’ the Emirates miree Stadium. Someone should havemiree told him there wouldn’t be that many fans to excite.
The malaise seeped on to the pitch during a dour openingg period and a shotot from Alex Iwobi thathat sailed over the barar in the 28th minute wasas the closest Arsenal cameme during the early exchanges.
Emery was far from happy, at one stage taking out his frustration on fourth official Yves De Neve, who was demanding the Arsenal manager stay in his technical area.
The Spaniard’s tetchiness was understandable, though, as his side were going through the motions, happily ambling along.
The stats underlined Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge, too — almost 80 per cent possession but not a single shot on target.
Well, not until the 32nd minute when the Gunners exploded into life. There was barely time to blink between Henrikh Mkhitaryan stealing the ball on the edge of his own area and Aubameyang finishing at the other end.
Mkhitaryan to Iwobi, Iwobi to Aubameyang. Goal. Sounds simple. But up until the goal it really hadn’t been an easy night.
Perhaps they knew their quality would eventually tell. That was true last night. But that hasn’t always been the case here at the Emirates. That’s why they are playing in the Europa League. Last night, however, Arsenal showed their ruthless streak and Welbeck doubled the advantage three minutes after the restart before Aubameyang fired home from the edge of the area in the 56th minute. Arsenal were home and hosed but Emery continued to go for the jugular, throwing on Ozil in search of more goals before granting academy graduate Emile Smith- Rowe his senior debut.
Ozil duly delivered, tapping home in the 74th minute before Chesnakov and Sharpar scored two late consolations for Vorskla.
Bigger tests of the Emery regime will follow, starting with a home clash against Everton on Sunday. But another victory this weekend and people may just start saying: ‘Arsene who?’
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 6.5; Lichtsteiner 7, Holding 6.5, Sokratis 6.5, Monreal 7; Elneny 7, Torreira 6.5 (Guendouzi 57min, 6); Welbeck 7.5, Mkhitaryan 8, Iwobi 7.5 (Smith-Rowe 70, 6);
AUBAMEYANG 8.5 (Ozil 57, 7). Subs not used: Martinez, Bellerin, Lacazette, Nketiah.
Scorers: Aubameyang 32, 56, Welbeck 48, Ozil 74. Booked: None. Manager: Unai Emery 7.5. VORSKLA (4-4-1-1): Shust 6 ; Perduta 5, Dallku 5, Chesnakov 6, Artur 6; Kobakhidze 6 (Sergiychuk 78), Sharpar 6.5, Kravchenko 6 (Skylar 70, 6), Rebenok 5.5; Kulach 5 (Careca 76); Kolomoets 5.5. Subs not used: Tkachenko, Giorgadze, Sakiv, Mysyk. Scorers: Chesnakov 76, Sharpar 90+4. Booked: Sharpar. Manager: Vasyl Sachko 5.5. Referee: Bart Vertenten (Bel) 6. Attendance: 59,039.