Mikel Arteta has paid tribute to Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe for the way in which he bounced back in last night’s win away to Molde.
The Gunners made it four wins from a possible four in the Europa League by winning 3-0 in Norway.
And it was the under-fire Pepe who got the scoring underway with a tidy finish after 50 minutes.
It’s been a difficult week for the Arsenal star, who is facing a three-game ban after being sent off for nudging his head into that of Ezgjan Alioski at Leeds United last weekend.
Many Arsenal fans condemned their £75 million signing for that off-the-ball incident, but Arteta has told Football London that he knew within the first minute last night that the Ivory Coast international was well up for it.
Arteta said: “Yes I am really pleased. After the disappointment you want to see something stand-out really quickly and I could see from the first minute his body language that he was ready to act. I think he had a great performance.”
Doing it away to Molde is one thing, but Pepe absolutely needs more consistency in the Premier League.
There’s a reason why he had started just the one game in that competition before the trip to Elland Road on Sunday.
Arteta is well aware that a lack of consistency is what’s holding the 25-year-old back from being a huge player for the Emirates Stadium side.
The talent is certainly there. Now he needs to make sure the output is.
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