Aubameyang makes Arsenal good as they win 4-1 against West Ham

The game against West Ham saw Wenger make changes to his team ahead of the semifinal clash against Atletico Madrid in the coming week. Ozil, Wilshere and Cech were not in the team while Aubameyang was dropped to the bench despite his red-hot form since joining Arsenal in the winter transfer window. Wenger planned to boost the confidence of Lacazette who will be the striker in the UEFA Europa League since Aubameyang is cup-tied. The match had nothing to appease the many Arsenal fans who returned to their seats in the stadium after having protested against the performances in recent games.

On this day, the fans were there and backed their manager who is set to leave in the summer. They did not stop cheering their team even when they went into the break without a goal. Nacho Monreal who has arguably been Arsenal’s best player this season opened the scoring from Xhaka’s corner on the 51st minute with a half-volley. His finish was something that even strikers can look back to and learn a few things. West Ham boss, David Moyes responded by introducing Lanzini and Javier Hernandez to support the striker Arnautovic. It was not long before these changes paid dividends as Arnautovic control the ball with his left leg and fired a shot across goal and into the net after Arsenal had failed to clear the ball out. 1-1 was the scoreline when Aubameyang was called onto the pitch.

The team started to believe with their star man on the pitch as they began to create spaces for forwards to capitalise on. It was not long before Aubameyang caused confusion in West Ham’s box just by his presence as Aaron Ramsey’s cross flew straight into the net. The Gabon international then turned provider to Lacazette’s goal in the 85th minute after some slick passes by Arsenal. Lacazette scored his second of the night 4 minutes after from a pass by Ramsey, and he celebrated with his strike partner Aubameyang. The pair already calls themselves The Bad Boys which draws a comparison to the relationship between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in their classic movies from the 1990s and early 2000s. Will this relationship help bring Arsenal more success after Wenger leaves?    

So near but yet so far for CSKA Moscow as they are knocked out by Arsenal

Arsenal went into the match with what they thought was a comfortable win after beating CSKA Moscow 4-1 at home. The club did not have Xhaka and Mkhitaryan who have been crucial to their success in the Europa League thus far. Elneny started in midfield with Wilshere and Ramsey and it was the Egyptian who would save Arsenal on the night. The match kicked off and the English side showed they were not interested in attacking because of the way they were playing the sideways passes. The gunners did not invest much into the first half with their closest chance of scoring only came from Lacazette who got his shot blocked for a corner kick. The belief of a win started to grow on the Russian side as the team started to take shots at Petr Cech. The aging goalkeeper eventually conceded a goal in the 39th minute when Chalov tapped into the net after Cech had punched the ball out from a shot and his defenders did not react quick enough. Kristijan Bistrovic’s furious half-volley shot almost made it 2-0 before the break but it sailed just wide. After the break, Moscow scored the second through Nababkin with an almost similar goal to the first. Egyptian midfielder, Mo Elneny, took up the responsibilities of creating chances in a match were Ozil was marked as he played a nice one-two with Welbeck before sliding a beautiful through ball that was coolly finished by the English forward. Danny Welbeck deserved that goal after doing the most of the defender who was marking him on the left flank prior to the goal. Ramsey scored the second for the gunners to make it 2-2 when Elneny again, slid a ball that passed two defenders and was met by the Welshman who chipped the ball over the goalkeeper. Many expected him to pass it to Ozil there who was in a better position to score but who cares now that the ball is in the back of the net. Another African player rescues an English club’s dream of European glory this season. One must wonder how much talent really is in that continent when these big clubs still wait for the African players to save them.

Atletico Madrid played Lisbon in the same competition today and lost the match 1-0. This means that they have gone through with a 2-1 aggregate. Both Atletico Madrid and Arsenal will be hoping to avoid each other in the semifinals. The UEFA Europa League draw will be held on Friday and only then will we find out about the teams that will face each other. Marseille and RB Salzburg are the other teams who have made it to this stage. Good luck at the draw!

Arsenal win 3-2 against Southampton

The Arsenal side that has been largely disappointing this season conceded a goal on the 17th minute. Mustafi was at fault for not paying attention to Shane Long behind him who ran ahead of the defender and pocked the ball into the back of the net to give an early lead to the visitors. Petr Cech was furious at the defender for sleeping in the match and the gunners required their star signing to save them. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored next in the match to bring the teams level on scores. This goal means that the striker has scored 6 goals and provided 1 assist in the 7 games that he has played in ever since joining Arsenal in the winter transfer window. This is a record matched by no other player in the history of the club. Indeed, it is a great start for the African player. Danny Welbeck followed that up with a fine goal for himself when he cut inside from the left and scored a deflected shot past the Southampton goalkeeper. Both teams created opportunities to score more before and after the break. Charlie Austin was brought on from the bench and was met by Cedric’s cross to score for Southampton just 2 minutes after coming on. Welbeck squandered an opportunity to score his second of the night when he was set up through on goal with a pass from Wilshere which he blazed over from less than 3 yards out. He finally redeemed himself as he scored Arsenal’s third on the 81st minute by heading in Iwobi’s cross. The match saw some controversial decisions as Stephens got a red card on the 92nd minute for a clash with Wilshere which saw him take down the Arsenal man to the floor. Elneny also got his marching orders a minute later for shoving Cedric. This result means that Arsenal have closed the gap on Chelsea to just three points as the blues drew 1-1 against West Ham United.