Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could and probably should have made it two Arsenal hat-tricks in the space of four days last night.
The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw with Benfica in the first leg of their last-32 Europa League tie.
But it certainly should’ve been a convincing win for Arsenal, whose main man had an off-day.
Aubameyang, who scored a hat-trick against Leeds United this past weekend, spurned three golden opportunities throughout the game and how he failed to finish at least one will remain a mystery to Mikel Arteta.
In a way, scoring three on Sunday and firing all blanks last night pretty much sums up the 31-year-old’s season.
For whatever reason, Aubameyang, who only has 11 goals in 24 games since September, cannot find the form or consistency which made him such a nightmare for anybody who came up against Arsenal in recent years.
And the club’s former player Stewart Robson has admitted that the marksman’s finishing was ‘so poor’ against the Portuguese side.
He told ESPN: “Well today his movement was quite good but it was his finishing that was so poor. There was one in the second half when he’s through one on one with the goalkeeper and it shows a lack of confidence because he could’ve just passed it into the corner and the chance was wasted.”
You can only repeat the ‘class is permanent’ adage so often.
The truth is that Arsenal are suffering as a result of Aubameyang’s goal-shy form and if they’re eliminated from this competition in the second leg, the finger of blame will point in his direction more than anybody else’s.
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