Liverpool great Steven Gerrard praised the finish of Arsenal’s record-signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, after the striker netted a debut goal in the Gunners’ 5-1 demolition of Everton.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger wasted no time integrating Aubameyang into his squad, starting up front just five days after signing for the club, despite rumours he was fighting a virus.
The Gunners had a rampant first half in Saturday’s late kick-off, with Aaron Ramsey opening the scoring after just six minutes with a clinical finish. Soon after it was 2-0 thanks to a Laurent Koscielny header and some slack Everton defending.
On the stroke on 20 minutes Ramsey was celebrating his second goal of the afternoon with his well struck effort deflecting of Eliaquim Mangala and wrong-footing Jordan Pickford.
Then it was for the man-of-the-moment to put the match out of sight. Henrikh Mkhitaryan - making his first start for the club since his move from Manchester United - played through his former Dortmund teammate Aubameyang, who coolly finished past Pickford with a delightful dink, though he was in an offside position.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin then managed to pull one back for the visitors in the second half, though it proved to be little more than a consolation with Aaron Ramsey expertly finishing Mkhitaryan’s pull-back for his first career hat-trick.
8 - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the 8th player to score on his first Premier League appearance for Arsenal. Welcome.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 3, 2018
Aubameyang looked at home in the Arsenal front-line and Gerrard- on punditry duty for BT Sport- was impressed with the Gabon international.
Reported by The Sport Review, Gerrard said: “It was offside, it was clearly offside. The officials got it wrong. But Arsenal caused Everton all sorts of problems.
Aaron Ramsey: Hat-trick hero ⚽️⚽️⚽️
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 3, 2018
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: Hat-trick of assists ️️️
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: Debut goal ⚽️@DesKellyBTS spoke to the trio after Arsenal beat Everton 5-1 at the Emirates. pic.twitter.com/iFw3LlhpFk
“This is a lovely little pass [from Mkhitaryan] and the finish [from Aubameyang], it reminds of the Hernan Crespo finish in the Champions League final in 2005. It’s absolutely world class.”
Aubameyang- speaking in his post-match interview- also appeared satisfied with how his debut panned out.
Dream debut for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as he scores against Everton in his first Arsenal game ...
... but Aaron Ramsey claims the match ball with a hat-trick. #UEL pic.twitter.com/6gjgxOT9fl
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) February 3, 2018
“I am really happy [to score]. We won the game in the first-half, the second was a bit different,” said Aubameyang.
Arsenal will be travelling to Wembley next in the Premier League when they face-off against local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with both sides looking to gain the upper hand in the fight for the top four.
- 90Min