Interview

'The team put energy into Lacazette'

Alexandre Lacazette is very much back in business.

Our No 9 returned to the starting lineup after scoring his first goal in nine games against Newcastle at the weekend, and followed it up with the late winner against Olympiacos.

After the game Mikel Arteta gave credit to Laca’s team-mates for keeping his morale up.

“That's the strikers," our head coach told Arsenal Player. "They live moments in their careers. They need support, they need confidence.

“That confidence and support came from me, but most importantly it came from his team-mates. The way they reacted when he scored, that was a lift. That's not just a coincidence. It's something that happens because the energy of the team is putting energy into him as well.

“We showed maturity in a lot of moments in the game," Arteta added. “We should have started better than we did in the first half.

"Defensively we made one or two mistakes positionally that could cost us in difficult situations, and then with the ball we gave a lot of simple balls away. We had situations where it was open, the next part was open, we could run and then it would be with our opponent. That's something we have to improve on as well.”