Alexandre Lacazette scored a crucial equaliser for Arsenal against Liverpool on Saturday, and most of the talk afterwards was about the technique of his finish or Alex Iwobi’s assist.
Perhaps something which didn’t get enough credit at the time was the buildup to the goal. Arsenal showed a lot of patience in a 15-pass move, which ended up resulting in the space opening up for that assist and finish.
The Gunners have scored a lot of nice counter-attacking goals recently, but this possession-based move finished with an inch-perfect through ball and a clinical finish deserves some attention as well.
I was watching the highlights of @Arsenal's game last night and realized Lacazette's goal was even better than I first thought. The buildup has 16 passes, with Holding, Torreira, Xhaka, Mustafi, Bellerin, Iwobi, Ozil and Lacazette all involved. #EmeryBall pic.twitter.com/5K5jU2PiSz
— Mohit Priyadarshi (@mohitprior) November 4, 2018
The above tweet shows the goal in full, although the poster claims the buildup has 16 passes, and I only count 15. Feel free to double check it yourself. Either way, it’s another team goal to add to the highlight reel for this season.
Hopefully, goals like this will convince the Emirates Stadium crowd to stay patient. At the start of the campaign, the fans would grow restless whenever Arsenal played more than three passes without going directly for goal.
The unbeaten run since then, as well as the goals the team have scored along the way, should prove that they know what they’re doing. It’s time to get behind the players and Unai Emery to see what they can achieve.