Arsenal Vs Chelsea: 5 things we learned – Excellent result; troubling developments
3. Alexandre Lacazette’s shooting-boots are lost
I have written previously that I was not concerned with Alexandre Lacazette’s goal-drought. He was playing well, he was getting chances, and while his lack of net rippling was not ideal, it was not an issue that I would get too hung up on. I may have been a little premature.
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Lacazette has now gone eight games without a goal. In those eight games, he has played a total of 554 minutes, which is equivalent to 6.16 full games. Moreover, Arsenal have scored more than one just three times and have now failed to score in two of them. This is becoming a worrying trend.
Additionally, Lacazette was a key reason as to why Arsenal blanked most recently. After springing the offside trap beautifully with a perfectly-timed, bent run, Lacazette had time to set himself before firing a bouncing ball, which came from a lovely lofted through pass by Jack Wilshere, towards the goal. He didn’t. He lashed at it and, subsequently, saw his shot skew into the ground to raucous, ridiculing applause. It was not pretty.
For confidence’s sake, Lacazette needs to find a goal. Anything will do. Off his knee, off his bum, off his hand, as long as it is allowed. It doesn’t matter. He needs a goal because, at the moment, he looks like a striker who hasn’t scored in eight games.