Nicolas Pepe is slowly making into the hearts of all of his doubters, following a £72m switch to Arsenal last summer.
Many were quick to judge the Ivorian’s lack of goals and assists early on in the season but he is slowly starting to come around.
“Pépé was a treat to watch,” wrote Jonathan Liew in the Guardian. He collected a goal and two assists in Arsenal’s route to a 4-0 win at the Emirates on Sunday. Pepe was a brilliant outlet on the right, taking on defenders and creating key chances for his side.
“We just need consistency from him,” Arteta said after the game. “The way he applied himself defensively as well, he was doing things he didn’t do in the past. He made the difference today.”
Pepe’s performance was a little dent into making people believe in him more. Of course, the jury’s still out on the 24-year-old and he still needs to justify the price tag Arsenal shelled out for him. But under Arteta and this newfound wake of confidence in the Gunners side, one can hope for a brighter future for this attacker.
Liew also wrote on his column, “As the last few seconds of this game played out, as Arsenal knocked the ball around without inhibition and Newcastle chased them without conviction, a strange sensation seemed to descend on the Emirates Stadium.
“You might call it, for want of a better word, satisfaction. Not happiness, as such: Arsenal don’t really do happiness. But the soft and sleepy contentment of a game well won, an afternoon without qualms or catastrophic injuries or late drama or existential angst: this was the unfamiliar part.”
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