Arsenal brought the 24-year-old to the Emirates Stadium in the summer and the Gunners winger impressed for Freddie Ljungberg’s side last night.
Sky Sports pundit and Arsenal legend Alan Smith has described Nicolas Pepe’s performance for the Gunners in last night’s Premier League game as potentially “the start” of his career at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners headed to the London Stadium in a torrid run of form, having failed to win in their last nine matches, and things initially appeared like they were going from bad to worse as the Hammers took the lead through Angelo Ogbonna.
Pepe, who cost Arsenal a club record £72million (BBC Sport) from French club Lille, was still one of the Gunners’ better players in the first half, before kicking on as the game went on, scoring a superb curling effort to put his side ahead after Nicolas Martinelli’s equaliser and then providing the assist for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s third.
Smith hailed the Ivory Coast international’s goal, telling Sky Sports following his strike: “They’ve scored two goals from nothing, but this is all about Pepe’s ability on that left foot. As a defender, you do not want him to shift onto his left from there, but what a magnificent finish!”
As the game went on, the Arsenal cult hero added: “We might have seen the start of Nicolas Pepe’s Arsenal career here tonight, in terms of his presence in this team.”
Pepe has arguably struggled to justify his expensive transfer fee in his early days at Arsenal but given his undeniable impact on the game against West Ham, it looks as though things could finally be clicking for him – and hopefully the rest of the team.
The 24-year-old has made 18 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions, scoring four goals and claiming four assists, according to Transfermarkt.
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