Interview

Arteta - Lacazette really needed that goal

Lacazette
Lacazette

The relief on Alex Lacazette’s face said it all after he scored our second goal in the win at Wolves on Saturday.

His late strike sealed the points, and was the forward’s first goal since March 7 - and his first away from home since February 2019.

 

“He really needed that,” Mikel Arteta said afterwards. “But when I asked him to come in, in three seconds he was ready to jump on the pitch!

 

“Things like this happen and he had a great movement of the ball, a great touch and a great finish.

 

“We need to give him more opportunities to be able to do more of that, but I’m so happy for him because he completely deserves that for the way that he trains and plays every day.”

 

Arteta also reserved praise for Shkodran Mustafi, Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos for their performances in the game at Molineux.

 

“We try to help every player to improve, first of all to feel that we trust them,” he said. “They can make mistakes, of course, but if they are willing and they are happy to try again, I think they will get the rewarded.

 

“Musti’s attitude, his training, attention levels, the questions he’s asking and how much he wants to help everybody has been really good since I joined. I think it’s a consequence of his performances.

 

“[Granit] was pivotal today and I think him and Dani dictated the game really, really well for the first 45 minutes. And then when the game plan changed a little bit and we suffered, they read the situation really well and gave the team exactly what they needed.

 

“They had to manage the game but in times they did it with great maturity and I know [Xhaka’s] character: he’s a great personality and he’s so focused that he deserves to be helped