BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks hailed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for putting Tottenham to the sword as Arsenal overpowered their rivals in a north London thriller.
Unai Emery’s side extended their unbeaten run to 19 matches, moving above Spurs into the top four, as Aubameyang’s double and goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Lucas Torreira secured a memorable triumph at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
“In big games, you need big players and Aubameyang always seems to deliver,” Crooks told BBC Sport, as he named Aubameyang in his team of the week. “His second goal in the 183rd North London derby was simply sensational. It left Hugo Lloris rooted to the spot and staring at the ball, praying for divine intervention.”
OPINION
It is not just Aubameyang’s blistering pace that makes him an absolute handful. It is his sensational movement and ability to get into positions that damage opponents. As for his finishing, it is absolutely top drawer. A remarkable statistic is that the Premier League’s 10-goal top scorer has scored with each of his past 10 shots on target. This ruthlessness in front of goal is which Arsenal spent £60million to prise him from Borussia Dortmund in January, a transfer that is starting to reap dividends. Aubameyang has been shunted out to the left on a few occasions this season, and was omitted other times, too, in favour of big pal Lacazette, who endured that fate on Sunday, but it is a measure of the atmosphere that Emery has created that both players are scoring so regularly from the bench. They are buying into the bigger picture and not letting their frustration affect them negatively.