West Bromwich Albion vs. Arsenal score: Alexandre Lacazette notches brace in Gunners goal glut

Arsenal’s recent revival continues after Saturday’s 4-0 win away at West Bromwich Albion which moves them up to 11th in the Premier League table.

Kieran Tierney opened the scoring at the Hawthorns in superb fashion on 23 minutes after an exchange with Rob Holding before Bukayo Saka doubled the visitors’ lead after he was teed up by Emile Smith Rowe.

In the second half and Alexandre Lacazette took center stage on the hour mark with a quick-fire double with Tierney the provider for the second just four minutes later.

The result, Arsenal’s third consecutive victory, continues to ease the pressure that had been building on coach Mikel Arteta before this timely run of good form.

Some takeaways.

Lethal Lacazette

Arsenal’s upturn in form has coincided with the Frenchman consistently finding the back of the net and that continued in the West Midlands with a double.

Lacazette, 29, now has five goals from four appearances across all competitions with strikes against Manchester City, Chelsea, Brighton and Hove Albion and this brace.

The last time Lacazette found the back of the net more than once in a match was over a year ago in a 2-2 draw at home to Southampton in late November 2019.

Both player and coach will be hoping that this rich vein of form continues with the Saints and Manchester United on the horizon.

Big Sam in big trouble

The recent 1-1 draw away at Liverpool hinted at Sam Allardyce working his magic again to keep another team in the Premier League to maintain his record of never having been relegated.

However, chastening defeats to Leeds United, Arsenal and Aston Villa, without a single goal scored and twelve conceded, suggest that Big Sam has bitten off more than he can chew in taking over from Slaven Bilic.

With Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham United and Manchester City their next three Premier League games, it is difficult to see where the next points are coming from for the strugglers who are now six points adrift of safety.

Ascending Arsenal

This was the latest in a string of impressive Arsenal performances and suddenly they find themselves on a three-match winning run after victories over Chelsea and Brighton before West Brom.

The pressure that had appeared to be growing too intense for Arteta has started to ease off a bit as the Gunners head towards mid-table with the European places now within six points.

With Crystal Palace and Newcastle United next up for the improving Londoners, some of those points could be on the board before they face Southampton and Manchester United.

Tremendous Tierney

Lacazette’s double will grab most of the headlines but he had competition from Tierney in terms of their contribution as the Scotland international chipped in with a goal and an assist.

The 23-year-old scored with a brilliant curling effort to open the scoring before teeing up the France international for his second goal of the game.

If Tierney can maintain such an attacking outlook on the left side while Saka continues to be a handful on the right, Arsenal will continue to have width that stretches teams that are tougher to break down that struggling West Brom.

Arteta answers

The Spaniard has put his faith in the likes of Lacazette, Saka and Smith Rowe recently and been rewarded with a flurry of goals and assists from the trio.

If Arteta can now similarly reinvigorate the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Gunners will continue to be upwardly mobile in the table.

The Gabon international continues to be a worry with just one goal from his last 10 appearances across all competitions at club level but Lacazette’s prolific turn is taking some of that burden away from the 31-year-old.