Some days, a striker will have a game where he only gets once chance, and he takes it to score a crucial goal. And then there are days like Saturday, where Alexandre Lacazette had chance after chance, and even got his goal, but still lost his personal duel with Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea.
Lacazette will wonder how he didn’t score more, and indeed, slightly more clinical finishing would have helped Arsenal avoid the 3-1 loss they suffered to United. But it’s hard to fault the striker’s performance, given De Gea’s inspired form in goal on the night.
Here’s an in-depth analysis of how Lacazette fared against United.
BASIC STATS
Goals – 1
Assists – 0
Shots – 7
Shots on target – 4
Pass Accuracy – 62%
Key Passes – 2
Touches – 63
Dribbles – 4
EFFECTIVENESS
The only thing missing from Lacazette’s performance on Saturday was more goals. He led the line well, making the perfect runs for his talented teammates to find him, and was too much to handle for the United defence. However, when he beat them, he had to face the last obstacle of an inspired De Gea in the United goal, and the keeper came out on top more often than not.
The story of the game: Lacazette could beat the United defence, but not De Gea.
KEY MOMENTS
19th min, CHANCE: The first of many times it took a miracle to stop Arsenal from scoring. Granit Xhaka flicked on a corner and the ball fell to the stretching Lacazette, who got enough contact to divert the ball towards the goal at a decent pace. De Gea got into a good position but didn’t know much about the save he made, as the ball deflected off his knee, back onto Lacazette, then wide of the post.
33rd min, SHOT: Yet again, the question was, how did he not score? Lacazette found himself with the ball just yards out. De Gea came out to smother his shot, and the Arsenal striker tried to dribble past him or at least create some space to shoot. Instead, it ended up being brilliant keeping from the Spaniard, as he stopped Lacazette’s shot, which then bounced onto the woodwork.
49th min, GOAL: Finally. Alexis Sanchez‘s clipped ball found Aaron Ramsey clean through on goal, but the Welshman decided to cushion it back to Lacazette. You’d say it was a chance he couldn’t miss, but given what had transpired in his duel with De Gea up to that point, credit to the Frenchman for putting this one away.
56th min, SHOT: And then, normal service resumed. Lacazette created space for himself to shoot and fizzed a strike low towards the bottom corner, only to see De Gea pull off another stunning save. For good measure, the keeper then kept out Sanchez on the rebound with another brilliant stop.
VERDICT – 8/10
On another day, Lacazette will play worse and score a hat-trick. It was his misfortune that he came up against the best goalkeeper in the world in top form. David de Gea looked like he wasn’t going to be beaten at all, and although it’s fair to say Lacazette could have been more clinical with his finishing, in truth there wasn’t much more he could’ve done.
The Arsenal striker was a nightmare for the rest of the United defence, and it was his goal that gave the hosts a chance at a comeback, although it was not to be.
