Arsenal's Arsene Wenger impressed as Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang hands hat-trick penalty to Alexandre Lacazette

James Benge1 April 2018

Arsene Wenger was impressed with the generosity of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Arsenal striker passed up the chance of a hat-trick to offer a helping hand to Alexandre Lacazette instead.

Aubameyang looked set to net his first hat-trick as an Arsenal player when Lacazette was brought down in the area in the final minute of the Gunners' Easter Sunday clash against Stoke City, where a penalty and volley from the Gabon striker had set them on course for victory.

But rather than take all the glory, Aubameyang opted to share, allowing Lacazette to take the penalty the France forward had won to score only his second goal of 2018 to wrap up a 3-0 win.

"I know Alexandre Lacazete is back [from injury] and I had scored twice already so I knew it would be good for his confidence," Aubameyang said after the win.

Action Images via Reuters

It has not been the kindest of years for Lacazette so far. Entering 2018 on a scoring drought that would eventually extend to nine games, the 26-year-old saw his status as Arsenal’s record signing usurped when Aubameyang arrived from Borussia Dortmund for £56million - a move that also saw Lacazette lose his role as first-choice centre forward.

A cameo off the bench at Tottenham saw Lacazette miss the chance to earn Arsenal a draw in the dying minutes, his final appearance before a knee operation that sidelined him for nearly two months.

In Pictures | Arsenal vs Stoke City | 01/04/2018

1/32

Aubameyang was among the first team-mates to embrace Lacazette when he sent Jack Butland the wrong way.

"That shows well the state of our society," Wenger said of the reaction to Aubameyang passing up a hat-trick. "When people are generous there is surprise.

"Even more when footballers are generous. And when it’s strikers even more.

"I know they have a good understanding. I like that, they can only make the team stronger. Lacazette came back from a long injury and I think it’s great.

"Would you have done what Aubameyang did? I’m not sure."

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Aubameyang’s sharing of the spot-kicks was not the only contentious decision around penalties in a victory where the scoreline flattered Arsenal.

On first viewing Bruno Martins-Indi appeared to have fouled Mesut Ozil for the spot-kick from which Aubameyang opened the scoring; but replays suggested the Stoke defender had got the ball before connecting with his opponent.

"From outside it looked a penalty," Wenger insisted. "I will look at it again, I promise you, but I don’t think Ozil dived."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in