Arsenal: You’ll never see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang better

Arsenal’s attack was on fire against Valencia, particularly Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who will never be better than he was in that match.

Arsenal needed someone to step up as we traveled to face Valcencia, especially with the fires of upset so stoked from the previous day, and what a joy that it was our star man, our most expensive signing ever, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang that took charge.

It’s been well-documented already, not even 24-hours after the match, just how well he did across the board. Not just with the goals, but with tracking back to defend, with assisting Ainsley Maitland-Niles in his troubles (and getting repaid for it with an assist) and in showcasing what makes him so special.

But I want to talk specifically about the goals, because isn’t that the primary reason that he is here? Not only did he score his first ever hat trick with the club at the most important time possibly imagined, but each goal showcased a different forte of Aubameyang and required a completely different strength.

Let’s start with the first goal, the one that came most from nothing. At a moment when the club had proven frail in giving up that first goal, all Aubameyang needed was a yard of space and he toe poked from distance past Neto.

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It required absolute precision to score from there. While Aubameyang is not known for such goals, he does score them from time to time, and it’s in those times that we see just how remarkable of a striker he is.

And the second goal. Certainly not from distance, but requiring all the work and ingenuity that Aubameyang had to offer. He made the run completed across goal and into the only spot he could have ended up to slip that ball in at the near post. A product entirely of his movement off the ball and his anticipation.

And the third, the beautiful third. After interchanging with Matteo Guendouzi, calm as you like, he found Henrikh Mkhitaryan and, on feeding the Armenian the ball, ran towards the corner and, leaving nothing to chance, he fired an absolute rocket from short range. With no room to slip it into, he powered it over Neto.

Three goals, three diverse skills, all perfection. This is the best you’ll ever see Aubameyang play and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Now if it could only come one more time…