Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alex Lacazette played like men possessed as they helped Arsenal to a first European final since 2006. Auba grabbed a hat-trick and played a role in his strike partner’s goal as the Gunners overcame early pressure from Valencia to win 4-2 at the Mestalla.
After the game the duo faced the BT Sport cameras. Here’s what they had to say.
On how much it means to make the final…
Auba: It means a lot. We’ve learned from last season. This year we didn’t make the same mistakes, we’re through to the final and we’re happy.
On the character to deliver such a big performance…
Laca: We reacted well, we knew we had to score a minimum of one goal today. Thanks Auba for the hat-trick, he was unbelievable tonight. Thank you, bro.
On playing together…
Auba: We enjoy it a lot. We talk a lot about that relationship already so it’s a pleasure to play with him, with this team. Above all, when you win games like this you feel very, very good.
On it being a very tough season…
Laca: We want to go to the Champions League, we want a trophy, we played bad in the last month in the Premier League so we have to be better now. We go to the final and we have to use this opportunity to win and to go to the Champions League.
On whether it matters who we play in the final…
Laca: Now it’s the final, it doesn’t matter which team [Chelsea or Frankfurt]. We have to give everything in the final and win it.
Now that’s a professional performance from most of the team.
Come on Eintracht.
I like it when we score goals and win.
First Auba goal was pure class…
Money does buy you class, it seems..?…
First Auba goal was pure class! Outer foot volley to pick the spot..
The third was amazing too, when they showed the replay he barely looked at the goal he was looking for laca, realised he wasn’t going to get there so just finished it
Four brilliant finishes and great movement for each…
Auba was peak Thierry tonight.
This team has definitely been saving itself for the cup these last two months
If thats the case then it is a huge mistake. Id rather pick a sure forth place than a possible win in the final.
Why?
Maybe he’s allergic to trophies
because hes right 6 points from our last possible 15 would of guaranteed cl football. but give me the trophy any day!
I noticed in recent games he’s become more comfortable playing from the wings and he is a bit stronger in the dribbles and taking players on. There was this one moment he slowed down to walking pace, baited the second defender by waiting for him to come close, then he turned and ghosted right in between them both before he was brought down. All I am saying is that it’s nice to discover that our two strikers can have other skills in their toolboxes…. like Laca with them direct freekicks. We have TWO WORLD CLASS STRIKERS people!!! The days of… Read more »
Did anyone else notice the look of fear on the Valencia players face after he put his studs through Sok’s socks?
I thought as much when it happened .. he looked scared.
These guys give me a glimmer of hope for the future.
I hope Santori will finally acknowledge that Auba is pretty good …
He did below
Kind of … in that Santori kind of way.
Attack is the BEST form of defense…at least for The Arsenal these days. Great call by Emery to be positive and start the pair up front. Aubameyang was superb today. Probably the weekend stung him as he has been at times too casual. Today he was sharp and spot on. Like the second of his hat trick when he moved towards the superb ball in by AMN. Usually, they tend to wait for the ball to come to them but not today. First AND Third goal were just pure determination and hitting it like he should have done against BHA… Read more »
Was nice to come away from watching a game where there wasn’t something ridiculous to moan about! Speaking with others, we’d been quite critical of Auba of late because it feels like he needs a lot of shots to score but I checked out his stats in the premier league and according to whoscored, he only takes an average of 2.5 shots per game to net 20 goals! so far so I think that must be right up there in Europe in terms of clinical finishing. Chelsea struggled tonight. Quietly confident that we can do them in Baku! What a… Read more »
Attack! Brilliant result. Thanks Arsenal.
You didn’t put in the best part of the inteview where they shared a bromantic light moment when Auba said to Laca, “I know who you wanna play (in the final).”
Clive was right all along, our season has always and will continue to rest in the hands of Auba and Laca… Well played tonight, lets hope for a repeat in 3 weeks time.