Five tackles, two key passes: Unselfish Arsenal star was absolutely brilliant against West Ham

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Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe’s goals fired Arsenal to a 2-0 win over West Ham United, but Alexandre Lacazette was arguably the best player on the pitch, and his stats back that.

Yes, Bukayo Saka won the man of the match award, and the young Gunner was fantastic as well. However, the pressure was well and truly on Lacazette after taking over the captain’s armband from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and he stepped up.

The Frenchman started up front and led the Gunners brilliantly. His pressing was outstanding from the first minute and his assist for Gabriel Martinelli’s goal was fantastic as well.

The only thing Lacazette will be upset about after the game last night is his missed penalty. His stats apart from that look really impressive.

Stats: Arsenal star Alexandre Lacazette v West Ham

Lacazette played 89 minutes yesterday and was excellent.

He had 46 touches of the ball and completed 20 out of his 23 attempted passes, maintaining an impressive 87 per cent passing accuracy. He registered two key passes and created one big chance, which Martinelli converted beautifully.

Lacazette helped out defensively as well. The Frenchman blocked a shot, made five tackles and won 12 duels throughout his time on the pitch (SofaScore). That is very impressive for a striker, considering that his main job is to have an impact in the opposition third.

SofaScore gave Lacazette a 7.9/10 rating – higher than any other player on the pitch. He deserves a lot of praise for his display yesterday, even though he missed a penalty.

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Captain Laca steps up

With everything that’s going around at the Emirates regarding the captaincy, Arsenal could easily have been distracted yesterday. A Gunners side from a few years ago would’ve definitely crumbled, but Arteta’s men stepped up.

Lacazette played a big part, individually and collectively. His performance was that of a leader and Arteta raved about his captaincy in his post-match press conference, branding the Frenchman as an unselfish player.

He said, as per Arsenal.com: “Absolutely (Lacazette is relishing the captaincy role)! Laca has always been like that in the dressing room.

“You see the way he acts with the young players, how willing he is to help. It’s in his nature. He’s not a selfish player. He’s happy when he makes the rest better, and he’s like that in the dressing room as well.”