• Home
  • Football
  • Arsenal Boss Says He Can 'Only Praise' Alexandre Lacazette After He Helps Gunners Down Wolves

Arsenal boss says he can 'only praise' Alexandre Lacazette after he helps Gunners down Wolves

Arsenal close to within a point of fourth place in the Premier League after Alexandre Lacazette helps inspire important win.

Mikel Arteta hailed Alexandre Lacazette after the Frenchman forced a late winner that saw Arsenal come from behind to beat Wolves at the Emirates.

Arsenal looked like they were heading for a defeat that would have seriously damaged their top four hopes on Thursday night after Hwang Hee-chan pounced on a mistake to give Wolves an early lead.
However, substitute Nicolas Pepe equalised for the Gunners with just 8 minutes left, allowing Lacazette to win it in stoppage time with a little help from the glove of Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.
It's a result that sees Arsenal now just one point behind fourth placed Manchester United but with two games in hand.
Lacazette endured a frustrating evening and is still without a league goal from open play since December 11 but he kept going until the last, eventually helping Arsenal over the line.
"Yes and that is what we need as a team," Arteta replied when asked if Lacazette's efforts summed up the team's display.
"Now we are building a team with a lot of young talent and new players and they need those experiences.
"I said to them at half-time, if you want to be in the top at the end of May we are going to have to overturn results maybe two, three or four times and today was an opportunity.
"I'm especially happy when a player makes an individual error that costs a goal and the team can put that aside and win the match and everybody is talking about it."
Lacazette is out of contract in the summer but is still captaining Arsenal and Arteta felt his performance was not that of a man looking to leave the Emirates Stadium any time soon.
He said: "When I see our striker in the 85th minute, chasing a full-back in the corner flag, winning the ball back, playing, going, fighting, missing one chance, missing two chances, going again. What can I do?
"I can only praise him and try to help him as much as possible and give him support. At the end he got the reward. For me, it's Lacazette's goal.
"We don't know what is going to happen at the end of the season. What he needs to do is put aside that future.
"It is part of our game, we don't have contracts that run for 20 years. That's part of our job and we have to be conscious of that.
"There's nothing to tell him but to praise him, because every single day he behaves like someone that wants to stay with us."
Wolves slipped to defeat, losing from a winning position for the first time in 45 matches - but boss Bruno Lage was still pleased with what he saw.
"No, no I am proud," he said when asked if he was disappointed with the loss.
"The word is proud of what we did here, against this team, in this stadium.
"I think we started the game very well, we have three good chances to put the score to 2-0 to us.
"After that it is football, we tried to manage the game in the best way. Arsenal played very well and scored two goals. That is why I said I am proud."
"We played better today than we did against Leicester - but this is football, we don't win any points today."

More Articles