Alexandre Lacazette's best moments in an Arsenal shirt
Alexandre Lacazette's best moments in an Arsenal shirt
Arsenal announced the Frenchman’s departure last week, bringing an end to five successful years with the Gunners.
The 31-year-old arrived from his hometown Lyon for an initial £46.5 million fee and has gone on to bag an FA Cup, Community Shield, and Arsenal Player of the Season for 2018/19, scoring 71 goals from his 206 appearances.
That goalscoring record may not rank highly among Gunners legends of old, though he is in Arsenal’s top ten all-time Premier League goal scorers.
It is Lacazette’s contributions away from goal - showcased in his deployment by Mikel Arteta this season - that has made him invaluable to the side over the years.
In celebration of the striker’s half a decade at the Emirates, let’s take a look at his best five moments in an Arsenal shirt.
Wolves comeback
The Gunners went down to an early Hwang Hee-Chan opener against a notoriously miserly Wolverhampton defence in February.
The West Midlands side provided a stern test to Arsenal’s top-four push and could easily have doubled their advantage in the second period through the South Korean.
But Nicolas Pepe’s smart turn and finish with eight minutes to go set up a grandstand finish. And it was Lacazette who provided the decisive run and shot which claimed three vital points for the win.
2018 North London derby
The Mauricio Pochettino led Spurs had taken control of the derby by 2018, losing just one of the previous eight games against the Gunners.
Unai Emery’s men - hoping to move above Tottenham with a win - produced their finest performance under his stewardship.
Lacazette’s 74th-minute strike gave the home side a 3-2 advantage after both teams had traded blows in the topsy turvy affair. Lucas Torreira’s finish three minutes later sealed the 4-2 win.
2020 North London screamer
Mikel Arteta’s first North London derby as Arsenal boss ended in disappointment but the 2-1 defeat to Spurs played host to a stunner from Lacazette.
The Frenchman claimed possession on the edge of the Tottenham box in the 16th-minute and lashed a ball high, past his countryman Hugo Lloris.
The strike gave the Gunners a short lead, cancelled out by Son Heung-min just minutes later. Toby Alderweireld completed the Spurs comeback after the break.
The dejection of the Arsenal faithful compounded by the fact none could be in attendance to witness Lacazette’s thunderous effort at the height of the pandemic’s disruption.
Stunner against Rapid Vienna
The forward recreated the feat months later in the Europa League against Rapid Vienna. Another outrageous strike, in an empty stadium, this time though in a win.
Lacazette picked up the ball deep into the Austrian side’s final third before cracking his swerving drive past the bewildered Richard Strebinger in goal.
The 10th-minute goal opened proceedings in the Gunners 4–1 group stage win, in the process breaking an eight-game duck for the forward.
A Slavia Prague stand…or knee
Europe’s second-tier competition played host to one of the most defining moments of Lacazette’s Arsenal career.
Ahead of kick-off in their second-leg clash away to Slavia Prague, the Gunners - with Lacazette as its focal point - took the knee.
The Czech side, unable to field a player banned for racial abuse, stood while the North Londoners demonstrated their support for the ongoing struggle against racial inequality.
And it was the forward who knelt in the centre circle, staring down his opponents, that provided the most poignant image. Lacazette capped the evening off with a brace for good measure in Arsenal’s 4-0 victory.
