LACAZETTE KEEPS ARSENAL’S EUROPEAN HOPES ALIVE
MIKEL ARTETA’S Arsenal are a work in progress but at Molineux against very tricky opponents there were exciting glimpses of the masterpiece the manager hopes to create.
This was his team’s fourth win in a row after the late horrors of Brighton and by far the most impressive.
To put it into context, Wolves were previously unbeaten in eight league games and hadn’t conceded or dropped any points since lockdown.
Yet Arsenal thoroughly deserved victory earned through goals in each half by Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette, with Arteta equally impressed by a clean sheet.
‘The reason we can beat anyone is because we enjoy suffering together,’ he declared.
Both of their goals underlined what the Arsenal boss is trying to do. Saka, still only 18 and looking even younger, signed a new long-term contract at The Emirates last week.
And Arteta is expecting great things from the bubbly winger.
The way Saka adjusted his body shape and wrapped his left foot over the ball to connect with Kieran Tierney’s deflected cross shortly before half-time was worthy of his first Premier League goal.
Ironically, the teenager might not even have started without Pepe’s wife going into labour, forcing the Frenchman to miss out.
Lacazette’s second goal late on was also encouraging. The £50million striker has had to be patient on the substitute’s bench but Arteta has been impressed with his attitude and stuck by him — unlike Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil, who weren’t even named in the 18-man squad.
Lacazette came on to replace Eddie Nketiah after 82 minutes and scored just four minutes later, cleverly spinning past Wolves skipper Conor Coady before clinically placing the ball in the net.
‘A great touch, a great finish. He deserved that for his attitude every day in training,’ said his manager. ‘When I turned to him, he was jumped up and ready in three seconds.’
For Wolves, it was an unexpectedly flat display given recent form and the fact they had a full week’s break, while Arsenal were playing their sixth match in 17 days.
Their one outlet was Adama Traore and if he wasn’t on the ball, nobody else stepped up.
‘Not one of our best performances,’ admitted manager Nuno Espirito Santo, whose side are still above Arsenal but have lost ground to Leicester City and Manchester United in the race for a Champions League berth. ‘Arsenal are a good team with talented players. We can’t control what people say about Europe, we never look at the table.’