Arsenal: Aubameyang and Lacazzette’s Misses in Big Away Games News

Navigation: Home / News / Columnists / Arsenal: Aubameyang and Lacazzette’s Misses in Big Away Games

Arsenal: Aubameyang and Lacazzette’s Misses in Big Away Games

By Daily Sports on March 5, 2019

It’s just 9 games left to go. 9 matches to decide which team wins the English Premier League and, interestingly as well, which clubs will take it to the top 4 Champions League places.

Arsenal looked solid against Tottenham Hotspurs away at Wembley on Saturday and were unlucky not to take away all three points after Pierre-Emeryk Aubameyang wasted a late minute penalty in a game that ended 1-1.

Manchester needed a late goal from the resurgent Romelu Lukaku to beat a hard-fighting Southampton side 3-2 at Old Trafford, while Chelsea saw off the challenge of relegation-bound Fulham at the latter’s Craven Cottage home to triumph 1-2.

Further up the table, Manchester City showed patience and enough technical quality to win 1-0 away at a very determined Bournemouth and with Liverpool fluffing their lines and drawing 0-0 away at Everton, Pep Guardiola’s City have knocked off Liverpool from their perch on top of the league table and are now a point clear.

The biggest game however was the North London Derby between Arsenal and Spurs which lived up to the hype in terms of excitement and high tempo football.

For me as an Arsenal fan, the frustrating thing about the fixture the missed chances by Arsenal’s two strikers on parade.

Arsenal’s striking duo of Pierre-Emeryk Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazzette have been in healthy form this season for the Gunners and they have scored goals aplenty that have put Arsenal in good discussion for a top four finish. Aubameyang is currently the league’s 3rd highest scorer behind Sergio Aguero and Mohammed Salah.

Both have scored the poacher’s goals, beautiful long range strikes and simple tap ins as well as penalties for Arsenal since they joined the club last year.

But these two guys have come short for The Gunners in one crucial area so far. They haven’t been banging in the goals away from the Arsenal’s Emirates stadium against the big teams.

While they have proved to be some kind of flat-track bullies against the lesser clubs of the premiership, scoring many goals against them, and find a way of rising to the occasion against the big clubs at home by scoring some good goals, the duo have tellingly not succeeded in laying marker away when they come up against the big boys.

There was a time when the likes of Didier Drogba (then of Chelsea) and Wayne Rooney (then of Man Utd) would turn up at the Emirates and decisively shut Arsenal fans up with match winning strikes.

Yea, there was a time when Arsenal’s legend Thiery Henry would fill away grounds at big clubs with trepidation and confirm their fears by silencing them with superb goals for Arsenal.

One of the hallmarks of legendary strikers is to go to away grounds against the finest sides of world football, filling the home fans with envy and dread and then scoring crucial goals that would send them into lonely and sad nights.

One of the most dreaded moments for me, watching the premier league on TV some years ago as an Arsenal fan was to hear the commentator scream “ROONEEEY” or “DROGBAAAAA” when Arsenal came up against these two teams. And many times, these names were screamed out when they visited the Emirates stadium and caused Arsenal havoc with match-deciding goals.

Unfortunately for Arsenal, their present crop of strikers have not had the same effect against big sides away.

Take a look at Arsenal’s last match away at Spurs on Saturday. Lacazzette and Aubameyang were guilty of missing clear chances that would have won Arsenal the game.

In the early minutes of the match and early in the second half, Lacazzette was presented with clear opportunities but he couldn’t connect well.

In the second half, I was frustrated at how Davison Sanchez came from behind to shake Aubameyang off the ball when he seemed clear on goal. It looked easy for the defender and I couldn’t help but imagine what a Drogba would do in a situation like that.

And then the penalty miss. Everyone does miss a penalty sometimes, but the kick from Aubameyang with just a few minutes to go was effete and unconvincing and allowed Hugo Lloris to save.

Is it a certain lack of enough mental strength for them at big and noisily hostile away grounds or is it just tough luck? I don’t really have a clear answer but I’ve frustratingly seen these two guys miss big chances at the home of their main rivals and also seen them go missing in some of these kinds of games and this hurts.

Arsenal’s first away game at Chelsea is another reference. Aubameyang lost super chances that you would expect a striker of his quality to put away with ease. Arsenal ended up losing that game.

Make no mistake, Aubameyang and Lacazzette are gilt-edged strikers, top class finishers but they have to show this in top fixtures away from home and silence fans the way Drogba and Rooney silenced me those days.

Source Daily Sports

Posted March 5, 2019