Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang continued with his impressive goalscoring run against Newcastle United thanks to his double in Arsenal’s 3-0 triumph on Monday evening at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners’ skipper has either scored (five) or assisted (two) in six of his seven games against the Magpies in all competitions, finding the net in each of his last four outings against the St James' Park giants.
In his 400th appearance in European League football (Arsenal 102, Borussia Dortmund 144, St Etienne 87, Monaco 19, Lille 14 and Dijon 34), the Gabon international’s second-half brace helped Mikel Arteta’s side return to winning ways against Steve Bruce’s men after a disappointing 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace their last time out.
After a goalless first-half, the former Borussia Dortmund man put the Gunners ahead in the 50th minute after beating Emil Krafth down the left before powering the ball into the top left-hand corner of Karl Darlow’s net.
With Bukayo Saka doubling the hosts’ advantage 11 minutes later, the 31-year-old found the net the second time in the 77th minute thanks to an assist from Cedric Soares.
Aside from losing their eighth game of the 2020-21 campaign, Newcastle United extended their Aubameyang-related misery to hold the dubious distinction of being one of the African’s favourite opponents in England since his move from the German elite division.
After an impressive shift, the striker was replaced in the 80th minute by former Chelsea star Willian. Ghanaian star Thomas Partey was substituted for Mohamed Elneny in the 67th minute, while English international of Nigerian descent Bukayo Saka was on parade from start to finish.
However, Cote d’Ivoire international Nicolas Pepe and Anglo-Ghanaian Edward Nketiah were unused substitutes.
This result extends Arsenal’s unbeaten run to six games as well as moves them up to 10th in the English top-flight log after garnering 27 points from 19 games. They will now shift their focus to the FA Cup on Saturday, as they face either Southampton or Shrewsbury Town.
On the other hand, Bruce’s Newcastle remain 15th having gone nine games without a win and they would be hoping to end their awful run against Aston Villa next time out on January 23.