Arsenal Vs Cardiff City: A striking lesson by Alexandre Lacazette

Alexandre Lacazette started his first game of the season in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Cardiff City on Sunday afternoon. The Frenchman put on a striking lesson.

Does Alexandre Lacazette deserve to start for Arsenal? It is something that many have been calling for all season long. I have been right at the front of the train, writing about it and talking about it ever since the preseason. And although Unai Emery persisted with the Frenchman on the bench, the pressure was building for a change.

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

In the three prior Premier League matches of the year thus far, Lacazette had been introduced in the second half in each of them. He had a positive impact on every match, with the latest, against West Ham United, being the most substantial. Lacazette had made his case.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 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
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Thankfully, Emery listened. On Sunday afternoon, in the fourth match of the season, Emery selected Lacazette as his starting centre-forward, shifting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out to the left flank to accommodate his new strike partner. In his first start of the season, Lacazette was given the chance to establish himself as a must-start candidate. He did not waste it.

The 3-2 win over Cardiff City was nervewracking at times. The performance was a little loose, there were defensive vulnerabilities present once again, and Cardiff can feel unfortunate that they did not get anything from the game. But there was one shining light for the Gunners that they can take great solace from: Lacazette. As Neil Warnock stated after the game, if Lacazette played for Cardiff and not Arsenal, his side would have won.

It was a striking clinic by Lacazette. Intelligent movement, strong hold-up play, awareness and creativity, accurate distribution, space-exploiting and space-engineering runs, both for himself and others, a ruthless, rifling finish that arrowed into the roof of the net to win the match late, an all-around lesson in how to play the centre-forward position.

It would be easy to focus on his powered finish or his deft flick for the second goal, but it is the awareness of his movement that I want to highlight. Take his goal, for example. It may not seem like much, but when he sees Lucas Torreira drifting inside with the ball, he takes a step away from the defender and turns his body slightly to the side, such that when he receives the ball, he can spin in behind the defender with space to unleash a shot on goal.

Similarly, for the first goal, Cardiff were defending deep with Arsenal having comfortable, unpressured possession just over the halfway line. Rather than looking to run into a channel in behind the defence, Lacazette dropped deep, pointed to his feet, with Mesut Ozil duly supplying him with the pass he wanted, and moved sideways a little to provide an angle for the pass. Little things that make a big difference.

In celebrating his match-winning strike, Lacazette took a bow. It was apt. This was a show. A true performance. A master at the art of striking. A lesson in how to play the position. And it was just wonderful to watch.