Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is invisible man as Arsenal flop versus Tottenham in derby

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  • Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang against Tottenham.

    Harry Kane was the hero yet again for Tottenham as his second-half header earned a 1-0 win against sorry north London rivals Arsenal.

    The margin of victory should have been greater, three other excellent chances being wasted by the England forward.

    In contrast, the Gunners did not have a shot from inside the box until substitute Alexandre Lacazette appallingly ballooned a volley well over deep into second-half injury time.

    Here, we analyse the performance of the new Arsenal

    STATISTICS 

    Goals – 0

    Assists – 0

    Shots – 0

    Shots on target – 0

    Touches – 23

    Passes – 18

    Key passes – 0

    Dribbles – 0

    Dispossessed – 0

    30-SECOND REPORT

    From the ecstasy of his scoring debut against willing Everton, Aubameyang came crashing down to earth.

    The £56 million (Dh284.5m) buy from Borussia Dortmund’s only sniff of a goal came in the 13th minute when a marginal offside call from England midfielder Jack Wilshere’s cute pass denied him a one-on-one opportunity.

    Was left frustrated when Switzerland centre midfielder Granit Xhaka over-hit a pass to him in the second half, and also put in an absurdly-bad cross in injury-time when redeployed to the left flank.

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

    GOT RIGHT

    WAITING TO POUNCE – Arsenal’s game plan revolved around getting men back in numbers and then springing on the counter-attack.

    In the early running, they appeared poised to cause Spurs problem. Aubameyang loitered on the shoulder of the last man and stayed alert to each opportunity.

    It was not his fault that wretched ex-BVB team-mate Henrikh Mkhitaryan completed zero key passes and was hooked after 64 minutes, while Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil’s return of two key passes was half that of Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen.

    GOT WRONG

    CAN A LEOPARD CHANGE ITS SPOTS? – Arsenal knew what they were getting when they invested in the Gabon striker.

    He is a man who will flit in and out of matches, bursting into life when a presentable chance comes his way. But is this contribution enough for Arsenal?

    The structure of the team does not appear sound enough to carry such a luxury player. At their top-six rivals, Sergio Aguero, Romelu Lukaku, Harry Kane, Alvaro Morata and Roberto Firmino all, to varying degrees, provide far more than mere goals.

    KEY MOMENTS

    13th min CHANCE: Wilshere looks up and springs Aubameyang, who is denied a clear chance by the assistant referee’s flag.

    60th CHANCE WASTED: Xhaka lacks the ability to play Aubameyang through, despite his excellent run.

    92nd CHANCE WASTED: Moved out to the left flank to accommodate replacement Lacazette, a position he’s not played in years. An embarrassing cross which fired out of play shows why he should stay central.

    VERDICT

    Nothing new was learned about Aubameyang, as a player.

    Famously, he only had 19 touches in his soporific last run-out for Dortmund. But this is a club he scored 141 times for in 213 games, and his ability to unsettle on the counter was also visible at Wembley for new employers.

    The key takeaway is how manager Arsene Wenger reacts to seeing his new front line fail to make the most of moments of transition while further weakening a suspect defence. Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan and Ozil contributed two tackles between them; Dele Alli, Eriksen and Kane provided six.

    RATING: 5/10

    All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com

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