Arsenal Vs Fulham: Normal with Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Arsenal carved open Fulham, scoring five excellent goals on Sunday afternoon. With Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, this will simply be the norm.

Arsenal travelled to Fulham on the strangest eight-game winning streak that I have ever come across. They may have won all eight games, but they did not really play well in any of them, relying on short bursts of attacking brilliance to put games away in brief flurries before hanging on for the remainder of the match.

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On Sunday afternoon, they extended the winning streak to nine games in all competitions. But this victory was different. This wasn’t just a normal win. There was a performance to match. The Gunners were excellent as they carved the newly-promoted side to shreds in a 5-1 victory. It was their best display of the Unai Emery era, and it came in large part because of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

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These two strikers accounted for four of the five goals scored, two apiece, with Aubameyang also providing the assist for the fifth, Aaron Ramsey’s sublime flick that started from deep in Arsenal territory, sweeping through the pitch with a string of wonderful pieces of skill from Ramsey, Hector Bellerin, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and then finally Ramsey again. Aubameyang scored twice in only 23 minutes of action, emulating Lacazette’s turn and finish for his first and then slicing through the Fulham defence, collecting Ramsey’s pass to fly through on goal all alone.

Lacazette’s second was a quick strike from the edge of the penalty area that caught Marcus Bettinelli out as it sneaked inside the near post to put Arsenal 2-1 up, a position they never looked back from. Lacazette’s all-around play was rewarded with his excellently taken goals. He was crucial to the Gunners’ play throughout the 80 minutes he was on the pitch.

Although this season thus far, this type of performance has been an anomaly, one thing that is consistent in almost every match is that this team is very capable of scoring goals. Other than the opening weekend loss to Manchester City, they have scored two goals or more in every single match. Only Manchester City have scored more goals in the Premier League thus far, with Arsenal scoring four more than the allegedly high-flying Liverpool — as of writing, Liverpool have played one fewer match.

And with Aubameyang and Lacazette collectively leading the line, whether it be from off the bench or together with one shifted out one flank, there is no reason to think that the goal glut is going to end anytime soon. This squad is stocked full of creative midfielders with the skill set to lay on a great number and quality of chances. With the finishing ability of Lacazette and Aubameyang, goals are inevitable.

There are plenty of concerns in other areas of the team. The full backs are unconvincing, Fulham created far too many chances for it to be considered comfortable, especially in the first half, and this team has only beaten opponents that they would be expected to beat. But this type of display, with Aubameyang and Lacazette fit and firing, should not be the anomaly.

Arsenal are a wonderfully dangerous team. They will score plenty of goals. They will carve open opponents with ease. And it’s largely because of Aubameyang and Lacazette. Long may it continue.