Arsenal Vs Bournemouth: Alexandre Lacazette will score a lot of goals

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 09: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal scores his sides second goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and AFC Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on September 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 09: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal scores his sides second goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and AFC Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on September 9, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Alexandre Lacazette scored his second goal of the Premier League campaign during Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth with a wonderfully curled finish. The Frenchman is going to score a lot of goals this season.

There was a moment midway through the first half of Arsenal’s three-goal dismantling of Bournemouth where the sharpness of their striker came to the fore. I am, perhaps surprisingly, not talking about his goal, which was beautifully taken all the same. In fact, in this passage of play, he didn’t even touch the ball. I am instead talking about one piece of movement that opened my eyes to the intelligence and goalscoring prowess of the Gunners’ latest shooter.

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As Sead Kolasinac, as he did all 90 minutes with great energy and effectiveness, powered down the left flank and drove his way to the byline, the opportunity arose for the Bosnian to fire a low pass across the six-yard box for a gambling centre-forward.

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The gambling centre-forward, this time, was Danny Welbeck. The dart of Welbeck dragged the Bournemouth defence deep as they tracked his run, leaving a rather inviting space behind them around the penalty spot. It was here that the spatial awareness, anticipation and vision of Alexandre Lacazette was on full show.

Rather, as many other, witless strikers have done in an attempt to simply get as close to the goal as possible, than follow Welbeck into the six-yard box, only crowding out the opportunity for both him and his strike partner, Lacazette stepped off, slipped into a neat pocket of space, using Welbeck’s run as a decoy, and awaited for pull back from Kolasinac.

The pass, unfortunately, was well intercepted and Lacazette never got his chance to unleash a shot at goal. But in one piece of movement, it was clear to see that this is a master of his position, innately understanding how to create, find and exploit space in the penalty area, exploiting the movement of those nearby, engineering angles and opportunities to, ultimately, shoot.

When playing ahead of a midfield as creative as Arsenal’s was in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth, Lacazette will score enormous amounts of goals. Although it could be argued that he does not have the all-round ability of a Thierry Henry or Dennis Bergkamp, what cannot be doubted is his truly clinical nature in front of goal.

Lacazette is a wonderfully ruthless finisher. He is cool when he gets a clear-cut chance and quick when offered just a snapshot. His instincts are sharp and alive; his thinking is clear and decisive. His technique is smooth and refined; he generates power and precision, a difficult blend to master.

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Lacazette proved against Bournemouth that he will score goals. He now has two so far this campaign. I expect him to score many, many more.