Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang shows Alexandre Lacazette how it’s done

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started in Alexandre Lacazette’s stead in Arsenal’s win over Everton on Saturday evening, showing the club’s former record signing how it’s done.

Arsene Wenger is notoriously hesitant to thrust new additions into his starting XI soon after they have signed on the dotted line. He is a conservative manager in general, and this is just another manifestation of that characteristic. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, for example, did not start against Swansea City on Tuesday night, more than a week after his official announcement.

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And, so, it was expected that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the latest club-record signing, would start his Arsenal tenure on the bench as Everton travelled to the Emirates on Saturday evening. That anticipation was only strengthened by the fact that the speedy striker had been dealing with a bout of sickness all week. How wrong we all were.

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It was Aubameyang, and not Alexandre Lacazette, who started as the lone centre-forward in an extremely fluid and interchangeable 4-2-3-1 system. Lacazette may feel a little hard-done-by to not have started. Certainly, the shortcomings in his performances of late have not been solely because of him. But that was nevertheless the decision that Wenger made. Aubameyang did not disappoint.

Arsenal dismantled Everton to the tune of a 5-1 scoreline. It was the least that they deserved. The Gunners were excellent, especially in their attacking work. In midfield areas, they were pacy and precise in their passing, maximising the impact of their movement off the ball, combined with intelligent, accurate and creative distribution from the player with the ball, and in attacking areas, their combination play, blended with the darting runs of Aubameyang, who was incessantly looking to run in behind the Everton defence, was devastating.

Specifically, it was the pace, or at least the threat of the pace, that Aubameyang provided that opened up space, passing lanes, and angles that Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan marvelled in. And that is what Aubameyang showed Wenger has been missing in Lacazette so far this season.

Now, this is not necessarily a slight on Lacazette. He has played far better than his goal record would suggest, not that his goal record is especially disastrous. It is more an appraisal of the overall influence of Aubameyang, even if he only had 25 touches of the ball and the one goal.

It was the possibility that Aubameyang could burn any Everton defender at any time that provided room in deeper positions. Morgan Schneiderlin and Idrissa Gueye simply had too much ground to shield as a pair. And that all stems from the presence of Aubameyang. It is something that Lacazette has not been able to consistently provide this season.

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This does not mean that it is the end of Lacazette. There are still the Europa League games that Aubameyang cannot feature in, and I still believe that Wenger will want to use both at times in the Premier League. But Aubameyang proved how it should be done with a wonderful debut. Lacazette will have to fight for his place.