Video: Nicolas Pepe fires in from distance to put Arsenal clear

Arsenal should be safe from any shock result tonight after Nicolas Pepe fired us into a 3-1 lead over Molde.

The Norwegian side started the game brightly, but as our boys got a grip on the game, it was more-or-less one-way traffic.

We were unlucky to have our first equaliser scrubbed off for offside, as our goalscorer Eddie Nketiah was clearly onside, but it was only moments later that we earned our equaliser.

It was two own goals that put our side in the lead, although Joe Willock certainly deserves credit for both, but Nicolas Pepe has fired in his second neatly taken effort in a week to give us daylight in the fixture for the first time.

Has Pepe done enough to be considered for the weekend’s clash?

Patrick

1 Comment

  1. I believe we are still struggling to get the best out of Nicolas Pepe. He is lightning quick, he has a keen eye for goal, but is sometimes very careless in possession and often lacks situational awareness.
    Whenever he plays on the right (what I would call his scoring position) he cuts in too quickly bringing his defender infield to clog the middle. To be more effective, he needs an overlapping player on his right to receive an outlet pass. If this pass in not available, he panics and often loses possession. He will occasionally try to beat his defender on the outside but this is still a challenge for him. This is not entirely his fault. Some fans will argue our offence this year is too left side focused.
    Whenever he plays on the left (what I would call his assist position) he provides more width to our attack and is more comfortable getting behind defenders and supplying cut-backs for easy tap-ins. During the EUROPA was last week, he scored with a right-footed shot and created an assist.
    So despite his flaws, Pepe is in fact a versatile asset that needs to be used strategically for either scoring or assists, depending on our opponents or other factors.

    Just some random thoughts and ideas. I’m getting of the daily references to his 72M purchase price.

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