Aubameyang's best moments at Arsenal
Aubameyang's best moments at Arsenal
By Matt Wright
After four years with the club, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang departed Arsenal on Monday to sign for Barcelona on a free transfer.
It was a sad end to his time at the Emirates Stadium, but it was a largely successful spell for Aubameyang, who scored an impressive 92 goals in 163 appearances for the Gunners.
At 32-years-old, the Gabonese striker’s best years are possibly behind him and there had been a decline in his performances long before his working relationship with manager Mikel Arteta was damaged beyond repair.
Nonetheless, ‘Auba’ left Gooners with some great memories, as his goals won them a cup final and fired them into another, even if a variety of circumstances meant most of us got to witness neither in-person.
As they like to say on reality TV following a contestant’s departure, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Here are your best bits…
Rounding off THAT move against Leicester – October 2018
Remember when it looked as though Unai Emery was about to lead Arsenal back to prominence, after the stagnant final few seasons of Arsene Wenger’s reign?
As much as it may feel that way, it was only three years ago, rather than a lifetime and it was the
Gunners’ still relatively new centre forward that was leading their revival.
The sublime football Arsenal played in this 3-1 victory over Leicester City had many of us thinking the good times were on their way back, as it came towards the end of an 11-game winning run in all competitions.
Aubameyang put Emery’s unstoppable force in front in the 63rd minute and if we thought the move that led to that was slick, that was nothing compared to what followed three minutes later.
Leicester were left chasing shadows, as Mesut Ozil let Hector Bellerin’s pass run for Alexandre
Lacazette before accepting the Frenchman’s through ball and squaring it for Aubameyang to tap in.
The finish was simple, but there seemed to be no stopping Aubameyang, who at this point had scored 19 goals in 25 appearances.
Sticking it to Spurs – December 2018
The day we started to believe we had OUR Arsenal back, as the Gunners produced an outstanding performance to defeat Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 in the North London derby.
Aubameyang put them ahead from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, but Spurs led 2-1 at half-time and this was a big test of the home side’s, and Emery’s, nerve.
The response was magnificent and it stemmed from a fantastic equaliser from Aubameyang in the 56th minute.
Aaron Ramey’s pass was actually a little bit behind him but that didn’t faze the striker as he whipped the ball into the bottom corner from outside the area, with Hugo Lloris no more than a spectator.
That fired an atmosphere at the Emirates that arguably hasn’t been matched since and goals from Lacazette and Lucas Torreira (remember him?) went on to secure a memorable win that made it 19 games unbeaten.
Europa League semi-final hat-trick – May 2019
Domestically, Arsenal’s momentum tailed off, but Emery’s knack for going deep in the Europa League had been maintained just a semi-final against Valencia separated them from a trip to, ahem, Azerbaijan.
Aubameyang had scored late on to seal a 3-1 win at the Emirates, but it was in the second leg at the Mestalla that he really shone.
He first cancelled out Kevin Gameiro’s early opener with a brilliant finish to settle the Gunners down following a nervy start.
Lacazette and Gameiro then swapped goals to leave the match at 2-2 and leave Emery’s side in complete control of the tie, but there was no let-up from Aubameyang.
He first turned in Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ cross at the near post before completing the first of three hat-tricks he would score for Arsenal by hammering Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s pass into the roof of the net with two minutes left to round off a 4-2 win.
The Gunners were Baku-bound. What’s that? You want to know what happened in the final? Moving on…
Double brings FA Cup glory – August 2020
Ah, this is more like it!
The pandemic meant the first trophy under Mikel Arteta, who had replaced Emery just before Christmas in 2019, was picked up in front of an empty Wembley Stadium at the height of summer.
It was down to the man who had done so much to carry Arsenal’s hopes in his first full seasons at the club and the player whose two goals in the semi-final against Manchester City had fired them an FA
Cup final date against Chelsea.
Any fears that this would follow the same script as the previous year’s Europa League final, following Christian Pulisic’s early opener for the Blues, were shot down by Aubameyang – by this point club captain - equalising from the penalty spot.
The Gunners grew in confidence from there and the trophy was theirs thanks to Aubameyang completing the comeback after 67 minutes with a deft finish, following some neat footwork.
He amusingly went on to make a meal of picking up the trophy, but there’s no doubt Aubameyang had more than earned the right to earn that slightly awkward moment.
When he was needed most – February 2021
Aubameyang’s impact lessened during the 2020/21 season, which was one we’d rather forget as a whole for a whole bunch of reasons.
Nonetheless, the end of their Europa League Last 32 tie against Benfica was a reminder as to how he would so often come up with a big moment when Arsenal needed one most.
The ongoing pandemic meant the two legs had to be played in Rome and Athens respectively and the Greek capital was where the Gunners’ ‘home’ leg took place.
Some slack defending meant they were going out on away goals, with the score tied at 2-2 following a 1-1 draw the previous week (Aubameyang had earlier opened the scoring).
But with three minutes to go, and one year after an awful miss against Olympiakos confirmed an early European exit, Aubameyang rode to the rescue for the umpteenth time by nodding in Bukayo Saka’s pinpoint cross.
It wasn’t long after this that his relationship with Arteta began to break down, making this his last great moment of an Arsenal career that deserved a better finish, something he often provided.
Photo credit: Getty Images
