Andy Townsend has lavished praise on Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Gabon international has been out of sorts for Arsenal over the past 12 months or so, regularly looking a shadow of his former self as far as goalscoring is concerned.
But Aubameyang reminded Gunners fans of his quality with a fine performance in the 3-1 win over Spurs in Sunday’s North London derby at the Emirates Stadium.
Not only did the 32-year-old find himself among the goals, but it was a brilliant all-round display from the former Borussia Dortmund marksman.
This was only Aubameyang’s 12th Premier League goal since the start of last season, which is a poor return for the man who reached 50 goals for the North Londoners quicker than anybody in their history.
But Sunday very much marked a return to form and Townsend said during commentary that he looked like a ‘completely different man’ against Spurs.
He said during commentary on Optus Sport: “His movement has been terrific, down the left and right side. I’ve watched him when he’s had some tough times over the past 12 months. I’ve watched him when he’s dejected, but today he’s a completely different man. He’s vibrant, on the move and looks like he can cause Tottenham problems.”
Happy manager
Nobody at the Emirates was happier than Mikel Arteta on Sunday, with the head coach passionately celeberating all three goals as if he had scored them himself.
The Spanish coach has faced a difficult six weeks or so since the start of the season, culminating in questions over his job security after Arsenal lost their first three Premier League games of the season.
But two of those were against Manchester City and Chelsea, the Premier League and European champions respectively.
And therefore perhaps the Gunners’ early-season struggles were without context a little.
Tenth in the table, Arsenal are now above Tottenham – who, in contrast, won their first three matches – but in order to keep climbing, Arteta is going to need Aubameyang to maintain this level of form.
We know he is more than capable and if he can find the right consistency this season, it’s going to be onwards and upwards for the Gunners.
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