Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has told BT Sport that Alexandre Lacazette started against Sheffield United as he wanted to boost the striker’s confidence.
Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague last Thursday, with Lacazette guilty of fluffing his lines in front of goal.
Lacazette had one particularly glorious opportunity, when he ran clean through on goal, but only hit the crossbar.
Thankfully for Arteta, the Frenchman was far more ruthless last night though.
Lacazette finished off two of Arsenal’s goals with precision.
And Arteta was delighted with the 29-year-old’s impact.
He said: “Against Prague he missed two big chances for him, he needed those goals. We played him today just because of that, he’s playing really at the moment and I’m really happy for him.
“He’s having really good performances and on top of that he put two goals away.”
Lacazette has now moved on to 13 Premier League goals for the season, which is a respectable tally for the Arsenal man.
There remains talk over whether he could depart this summer, but replacing such a volume of goals will be tough for the Gunners, if they do opt to sell him.
Lacazette’s display against the Blades was surely enough to keep him in Arsenal’s starting line-up for their game against Slavia in midweek.
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