Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang just does what he does

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored Arsenal’s opening goal in their 3-2 win over Southampton on Sunday. The striker just does what he does: Scores.

Scoring goals is the most difficult aspect of football. That is why attackers tend to be the most expensive players. They are the most talented; they are the most important. There is a great demand for them, and a lesser supply of them. Thankfully for Arsenal, they have a great one.

Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast right here

Ever since his deadline day £56 million move, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has proven his reputation as one of the most prolific centre-forwards in world football. Goals are his speciality.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 observations from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park

He has made seven Premier League starts for the Gunners. He has scored six goals in those games, failing to score in only two. While with Borussia Dortmund, commentators would regularly describe a goal of his as the ‘customary Aubameyang goal’. And that’s the point. He scores goals, and a lot of them. He added another to his collection on Sunday afternoon in Arsenal’s eventful 3-2 win over Southampton.

This was a wonderfully clever and anticipatory finish. As Alex Iwobi clips a pass into Danny Welbeck, with the England striker drawing the Southampton defence towards him, Aubameyang realises where the space is that he can exploit. Then, with a surge of speed, he accelerates into that space, latching onto Welbeck’s inventive, back-heel, volleyed flick. From this point, he just has to finish. That is not as easy as it sounds. With Alex McCarthy and a defender bearing down on him, he has little time to do much. So he decides to simply prod the ball goalwards, using the bottom of his foot to knock it beyond McCarthy and into the empty net.

It was a delightful finish, one that perfectly displayed the goalscoring prowess that Aubameyang boasts. He is a player, as they say, who just knows where the net is. He proved as much here.

And that is just who Aubameyang is and it’s just what he does. There are viable questions to be asked of his general input to a game. Does he hold up the ball as well as he should, bringing others into play? Does he create chances as well as score them? Can he dribble past players, rather than requiring the service from those behind him?

These are questions that he is yet to answer. And some of them may even provide a negative answer. But as long as he is scoring goals, they do not actually matter all that much. He may not offer that much to the team beyond his goals, but when he is scoring nearly every game, is that really an issue?

Next: Arsenal Vs Southampton: 5 things we learned

Aubameyang is a natural-born goalscorer. He is proving right before our eyes. Arsenal are very lucky to have him indeed.