Arsenal beat West Ham United 3-1 away from home on Monday night.
Arsenal caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg has told Sky Sports that he really liked seeing Nicolas Pepe being exhausted as he came off the pitch last night.
The Gunners made the short trip to East London on Monday night to take on West Ham United, with neither side in particularly great form.
West Ham did take the lead through a deflected Angelo Ogbonna goal, and it’s fair to say that Arsenal were disappointing in the first hour.
However, Arsenal came alive with Gabriel Martinelli’s equaliser, and winger Pepe took over as he smashed home Arsenal’s second before teeing up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to seal a 3-1 win.
That may just be the confidence boost that Arsenal needed and that Pepe needed, having been criticised for his performances since signing from Lille in a club-record deal over the summer.
The Ivorian has been left out of the side recently, but after a strong cameo against Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday, he was given a chance from the start last night.
Pepe looked bright and dangerous, and had the end product to match as he picked up a goal and an assist, with fans no doubt hoping that he now kicks on and produces consistently.
After the game, Ljungberg suggested that it hasn’t been easy for Pepe, and whilst he scored an amazing goal last night, what really pleased the Arsenal caretaker was that Pepe was ‘really, really tired’ when he came off, because he put the work rate in and showed he will battle for the team.
“Nicolas is an amazing football player,” said Ljungberg. “It’s not easy to come from France, to change totally, to how we play football and the pace of it. He was really, really tired at the end, which I like to see. He worked his socks off, scored an amazing goal, and he will just get better and better,” he added.
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