EMERY PROUD OF HIS ‘BIG PLAYERS’
PIERRE-Emerick Aubameyang was branded ‘unbelievable’ after his first hat-trick for Arsenal fired them into a Europa League final against Chelsea in Baku. Aubameyang’s treble helped Arsenal to a 4-2 victory over Valencia and guided Unai Emery’s side into their first European final since 2006. There was a hostile atmosphere at the Mestalla and Mesut Ozil reacted by shushing the home fans as he slowly walked off after being substituted. Tensions boiled over at full-time as the teams squared up to one another. Despite that, Arsenal emerged victorious and Alexandre Lacazette lavished praise on his strike partner. ‘Auba was unbelievable with an incredible hat-trick,’ he said. ‘Thanks to him. We have played badly in the Premier League during the last month and now we have to use this opportunity. We want to play in the Champions League next season and we want the trophy. We reacted well to going behind and we knew we had to score a minimum of one goal.’ Hat-trick hero Aubameyang added: ‘We have learned from last season and this year we didn’t make the same mistakes. Now we are through to the final.’ Emery — who managed Valencia for four years — won the Europa League three times with Sevilla and is now looking to lift the trophy for a fourth time. He was set the task of qualifying for the Champions League when appointed at the start of the season. ‘We had two possibilities (to qualify for the Champions League) — the Premier League we lost, now we are in the Europa League,’ Emery said. ‘The Europa League has improved a lot. ‘I started playing in it here with Valencia 10, 11 years ago. It was different, very different. Now this is a different league. ‘Manchester United won it. Sevilla played the final against Liverpool. ‘We can be proud of the players, of the work, of our supporters. It’s not finished. We have one step more to play in the final. We know it will be difficult to win. ‘I am very proud of the players, the supporters here with us.’ On Aubameyang and Lacazette, who have scored 29 and 19 goals respectively this season, Emery added: ‘I am proud. Big players can be good strikers but when their commitment is like today, defensively also, to work to help us, it is amazing.’