London Football News

Wenger praises Lacazette after Arsenal win

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Arsene Wenger praised Alexandre Lacazette after Arsenal’s 2-0 win against West Brom and said he took him off because the French striker was tiring.

Summer signing Lacazette scored twice at the Emirates Stadium, where he headed in a 20th-minute opener and then netted with a penalty midway through the second half.

Wenger’s decision to replace him with Olivier Giroud with seven minutes remaining denied Lacazette the chance of a hat-trick, but the Gunners boss insisted it was the right thing to do.

“He’s not only a goalscorer, his link-up play is good, he fights as well and looks to adapt very quickly and very well,” Wenger said at his post-match press conference.

“I took him off because he was tired. He had an opportunity to score a hat-trick but what you want is to win the game, not take any gambles.

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“When a guy is a bit tired there’s no need to (gamble). You know that we might have to defend at set pieces or Giroud might score a third goal.”

Wenger was pleased with his team’s display against the Baggies, who managed to frustrate them for much of the game.

He said: “In the first half they were physically very strong, very mobile and disturbed our build-up and went very direct and it took us some time to adapt to that.

“I believe in the second half we controlled the game much more. They dropped a little bit in their intensity and that made it a bit more comfortable for us. Overall it finished in a comfortable way.

“What is important is that we are strong at home. It is important we keep our home strengths.”




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