Alexandre Lacazette, Henrikh Mkhitaryan Lead Arsenal to 2-0 Win vs. Southampton
Alexandre Lacazette struck early to set Arsenal en route to a 2-0 win over Southampton at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday as the Gunners clinched a fourth win in five Premier League games.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan assisted Lacazette for Arsenal's opener with six minutes on the board, and the Armenian doubled their lead with a smooth finish of his own at the back post shortly after.
The Gunners moved up to fourth in the Premier League after Manchester United drew 0-0 at home to Liverpool, with Arsenal now one point above the Red Devils.
Reliable Lacazette Should Be Arsenal's Main Man in Attack
There was debate as to how Arsenal would fit both Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 29, into the same XI following the latter's arrival in January 2018. Manager Unai Emery hasn't started the duo together as much as many fans may like to see, but neither one deserves to be seen as a deputy.
Yet that appears to have become the tag attached to Lacazette, who has 21 starts in all competitions this season (18 in the league) compared to Aubameyang's 28 (23 in the league).
With the need to rest players amid a busy schedule, Lacazette led a lineup that operated largely as a 4-2-3-1 on Sunday. His quick reflexes to backheel in Arsenal's breakthrough saw him match a scoring streak at the Emirates not witnessed since another Gunners great reigned, per OptaJoe:
Lacazette, 27, was also guilty of a few glaring misses in front of goal—just as Aubameyang has been on occasion this season—but his finishing is mostly unquestioned, as his 11 Premier League goals this season illustrate.
The French forward has scored 11 goals and recorded five assists in 1,715 minutes this season, meaning he's had a direct hand in a goal every 107 minutes in the competition. Aubameyang's 15 goals and four assists equate to a direct hand in a goal every 105 minutes.
The quandary is that Emery appears intent to operate with one main striker pushed ahead while also playing wide men, but that system doesn't allow for both Lacazette and Aubameyang to play in their favoured role.
Arsenal fan JB summarised the issue, with Lacazette the more capable of transitioning into a supplemental role behind the striker, even though he has the potential to be as big a scoring threat as his striker comrade:
In any case, there are no signs whatsoever that any competition will turn into animosity between the pair, with Lacazette running straight over to Aubameyang after scoring to revel in the celebrations, per Goal:
Lacazette has scored three braces fewer than his team-mate in the league this season, but he's scored in 10 different matches to assemble his 11 goals, while Aubameyang has only netted in one match more.
Adapting both players into the same team remains the ideal scenario for Emery, but Lacazette has proved he should be held in higher regard when it comes to the manager prioritising his attackers.
Menace Mkhitaryan Has Proved Arsenal Won Sanchez Transfer Saga
Mkhitaryan started his third game in a row for Arsenal after being out for two months due to a fractured metatarsal. January marked the anniversary of his swap transfer with Alexis Sanchez, who joined Manchester United, and Sunday's performance underlined who has got the most out of the deal.
Despite that injury and the fact there's more than two-and-a-half months of the campaign left, Mkhitaryan, 30, cemented his best scoring season in England on Sunday, per Squawka:
The Armenia international has been electric at times for Arsenal but has struggled for consistency. He scored and assisted in a 3-2 defeat at Chelsea at the start of the season, but after netting just once more between August and December, he now has three goals and an assist in his last three league games.
Sanchez, meanwhile, was an ineffective substitute in Manchester United's 0-0 stalemate at home to Liverpool. The Chile international struggled to fit in at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho, and he hasn't shown many signs things are improving with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as of yet.
His record with the Red Devils stands at five goals and nine assists in 39 appearances. Mkhitaryan has played 41 matches for Arsenal and now boasts a more impressive ratio of eight goals and 10 assists.
In Mkhitaryan, Emery has a natural right-wing talent and not a makeshift option such as Mesut Ozil or Aubameyang, players who are better suited to playing in other positions.
He played his first Premier League game of 2019 in the recent 2-1 victory over Huddersfield Town, but his display on Sunday drew praise as one of higher quality:
Sanchez hasn't offered the same indication that he can be a game-changer in Manchester and has started only 28 times in a year with United.
Southampton are perhaps easy prey as they sit 18th in the league, but Arsenal have something to be excited about if this was the first signal of Mkhitaryan regaining his top form in north London.
Arsenal also brought their wage bill down by allowing Sanchez to join United in place of the more cost-effective Mkhitaryan, who has proved himself the more valuable asset from the deal.
What's Next?
Both teams are back in action on Wednesday, when Arsenal will host another south-coast opponent in Bournemouth and Southampton look to get back to winning ways at home to Fulham, who have lost their last three.
