Arsenal have picked up their first win of the season and it was a fantastic one as we smashed six goals past West Brom in the Carabao Cup tonight.
The Gunners went into the game having failed to score in each of our opening two games. We simply had to bounce back today and Mikel Arteta’s men managed to do that in brilliant style thanks to a hat-trick from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and goals from Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette.
Here are six things we learned from our 6-0 win at the Hawthorns…
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Captain fantastic
A lot has been said about Aubameyang over the last 12 months. Some even claimed he was finished at the top level, but the Arsenal skipper silenced all his doubters with a phenomenal hat-trick tonight.
Yes, it was against a Championship side with six debutants. However, this performance could bring his confidence back and that could be a game-changer for Arsenal this season.
Man of the match Odegaard
Martin Odegaard made his second debut for Arsenal tonight and the Norwegian was absolutely outstanding. He got on the ball consistently, always made himself available and picked up a fantastic assist for Saka’s goal as well.
The Real Madrid man really does make everyone around him look better. No wonder he was Arteta’s priority target this summer, and if he can come up with performances like tonight’s every week, Arsenal will score a ton of goals this season.
Saka’s back to his best
Saka looked really rusty against Chelsea on Sunday. His performance made many wonder if he’s fully fit. Watching him toy around West Brom tonight squashed all those doubts.
The teenager was absolutely sensational from start to finish. He scored a really good goal and could’ve easily managed two more. It was a joy seeing Saka play today, hopefully, he can replicate the same performance against Manchester City this weekend.
Ramsdale silencing his doubters
Arsenal signing Aaron Ramsdale from Sheffield United received more criticism than praise. Most people weren’t convinced that the Englishman was good enough for the Gunners. It is safe to say, he proved a few people wrong tonight.
Ramsdale was tested a few times by West Brom and the new Arsenal goalkeeper passed with flying colours. He looked great with the ball at his feet as well, and we can’t wait to see more of him in the coming months.
Arteta needed that
After back-to-back defeats in the Premier League, the pressure was well and truly on the Arsenal boss. Some fans wanted him gone right after our defeat to Brentford on the opening day, but he could’ve just earned himself some more time now thanks to tonight’s emphatic win.
Arteta has always said that there’s no better medicine in football than winning. Arsenal picked up their biggest ever victory under him tonight and hopefully, that will give us the confidence to break our duck in the Premier League as well.
A win is a win
Everybody who has criticised Arsenal over the last two weeks will try to discredit our victory today. A win against West Brom is no great achievement, but we can only beat what’s in front of us, and we did that spectacularly tonight.
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Arteta should be really proud of his players, even though they mostly faced kids. We could’ve easily crumbled after a shaky start, but we kept our composure and battered them.
A win is a win, irrespective of who it comes against.
