Arsenal vs Benfica: 4 talking points as Aubameyang seals last-gasp win

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang Delivers the Goods

Take those two goals out of the equation and Aubameyang had, generally, a poor game.

None of which matters when you score two goals.

Just after half-time – even before the game started – there were calls for Alexandre Lacazette to play in his stead. Someone who could link fluidly with Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe, drop deep to allow for diagonal runners and indulge in the physical side of the game against the three Benfica central defenders.

Lacazette would have done that. However, he wouldn’t have scored those goals. And that’s what is important.

Aubameyang is and always will be a low-touch striker. He thrives on attacking spaces, being fed through on goal and receiving the ball ready to strike it in as little time as possible. Both his goals on the night were scored with a single touch. His finishing does the talking.

He, like so many others, will miss chances. He’ll may squander more on Sunday. Yet as captain, as the talisman and as the striker, it’s about the continuing to find the spaces and making them count and Aubameyang’s movement is superb.

In the first leg he came off and Arsenal created nothing. If he’d have come off again, this conversation wouldn’t even be happening. If you want to score goals you have your best goalscorers on the pitch. Thursday night is what usually happens if you do.