A section of the Arsenal supporters have praised the performance of Alexandre Lacazette during the club’s 3-1 Europa League semi-final triumph over Valencia on Thursday night.
The north London side made the worst possible start after Mouctar Diakhaby headed in Valencia’s opener in the 11th minute and the visitors could have quite easily doubled the advantage amid the nervousness in the Gunners backline.
However, Lacazette shortly led the comeback by getting on the right end of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang layoff for the equaliser before scoring his second from a first-time cross from Granit Xhaka.
The Frenchman thereafter had multiple chances to grab his hat-trick, but he managed to make amends towards the end where his fine bit of play allowed Sead Kolasinac to deliver a hanging cross through which Aubameyang scored the vital third goal.
Here are some of the reactions towards Lacazette’s showing;
https://twitter.com/Lumos7/status/1124032988059193346
I love Lacazette's leadership! Talking to the team when we conceded. Give him the captain's armband! pic.twitter.com/buiDQyRgnp
— ArsenalArena (@ArsenalArena) May 2, 2019
Love Lacazette. Always scores crucial goals mostly against the bigger teams and when the team needs one. Says a lot about his mentality and his fighting spirit.
— P™ (@SemperFiArsenal) May 2, 2019
https://twitter.com/ltarsenal/status/1124054995308097539
https://twitter.com/gunnerblog/status/1124033501236477958
The Gunners had endured a tough spell with three successive league defeats where they had conceded three goals on each of those occasions.
It appeared that trend may continue with Los Che bagging an early away goal, but Lacazette and Aubameyang led the comeback with their impressive link-up play alongside Mesut Ozil.
With a 3-1 scoreline, the Gunners have a handy advantage ahead of the return trip to the Mestalla for the second leg, and they should fancy their chances of scoring, given Los Che have equally shown a vulnerability in their backline.
Nonetheless, they can’t afford to lose concentration, which was the case in the early stages of Thursday’s game, where Valencia could have quite easily been two or three goals ahead.
Arsenal return to league action this weekend with a final home game against Brighton & Hove Albion. They are currently two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, but have hopes of sealing a Champions League spot, should the Blues stumble in either of the remaining two matches for the season.
