Lacazette and Aubameyeng push Arsenal past Cardiff

By Renny Thomas

The forward pairing of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyeng look to have finally found some traction for Arsenal, each scoring a goal in a 3-2 victory away against Cardiff City.

The match was a back and forth affair with Arsenal’s Skodran Mustafi heading a Granit Xhaka corner into the top right corner to put the Gunners on the scoresheet first in the 11th minute. A poor crossfield pass from Xhaka was intercepted by Cardiff’s Junior Hoilett, which eventually setup a Victor Camarasa  equaliser right before halftime.

The Gunners’ high price forward pairing seemed to find their chemistry in the second half, as Lacazette connected with Aubameyeng on a beautiful backheel pass that allowed the former Dortmund striker to put away the go ahead goal. Following a 70th minute header from Danny Ward that allowed Cardiff to draw level once more, It was Lacazette that put away the deciding goal in the 81st minute, delivering three points for Arsenal, lashing the ball into the roof of the goal.

For fans, the pairing of these two dynamic goalscorers in the starting eleven has been desired since Aubameyeng’s arrival from Dortmund during last January’s transfer window. With Lacazette injured for much of the spring, the two forwards were hardly able to see the pitch at the same time for much of the spring. In the few moments they were able to play together, there were glimmers of the potential their partnership could have, most notably in late season tilts against Newcastle, Burnley and Huddersfield.

Today, as is the case when they were paired together last year, the duo were deployed as part of a 4-3-3 formation with Lacazette operating down the middle, the Gabon striker flanked to the left.  This deployment allows both players to really play to their strengths: Aubemeyeng to pressure defenders out wide with his blistering pace and creating goal scoring opportunities for Lacazette, who has a true talent for weaving through traffic to find open spaces and converting those scoring opportunities as they arise.  In what action they saw last year, both goalscorers were prolific for their short amount of time with the club, with a combined 25 goals in 49 appearances across all competitions.

Moving forward, It is unsure if today’s pairing is just an occasional occurrence or the way forward for Arsenal up top.  Manager Unai Emery tends to favor having only central striker and both Aubemeyang and Lacazette are natural centre-forwards.  Lacazette has not often played out to the left and Mesut Ozil will most often be deployed out to the left. Their partnership will depend on how flexible Emery feels with his lineups, and how well Aubemeyeng takes to playing out wide.

As well as the pair looked today and will hopefully continue to look moving forward, today’s match against Cardiff City once again highlighted the lack of defensive fortitude.  Cardiff were able to put two goals and had several more near misses that could changed the outcome of the match. Having given up eight goals in the first four matches of the season, the Gunners may need to rely on the goalscoring exploits of their high priced centre forwards to stay ahead of their defensive gaffes.