Arsenal beat Crystal Palace 3-1 in the Premier League meaning they still have an outside chance of securing a European spot next season. The Gunners put in a fine shift to make sure that they do not falter once again and it was Nicolas Pepe who was one of the standout performers on the night.
Pepe has been really underwhelming ever since his high-profile move to the Premier League but over the past few months, it finally looks like the winger is coming off age at the Emirates.
Last season, Nicolas Pepe scored only five goals in 31 league matches but this time around, the 25-year-old has managed eight in 28 outings already. And two of those came against Palace in midweek.
Whoscored has given Pepe a rating of 8.8 out of 10 for his performance at Selhurst Park and even the manager was all praise of the Ivorian international after the match.
The manager said of Pepe, as per Arsenal.com: “Well, I’m very encouraged and positive to think that way for two reasons. One, because he’s come a long way, in terms of consistency of what he’s producing in games. Not only in the Premier League but what he’s done in Europe this season.
“And the second one, because of his serious mindset. He wants to look at every action, he wants to look at every post-match reflection we do with him individually. He wants to work and he wants to be the best. And when that happens and he has the talent that he has, I think it’s a really good mixture.
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“He hasn’t had the consistency sometimes in the gametime, but I think in Europe he’s been terrific and in the Premier League he’s started to show much more what he’s like, and he’s very hungry.
“I think he’s changed a lot in his mentality and his willingness to do much more.”
Bukayo Saka has been the constant figure on the right wing for most of this season but it looks like Nicolas Pepe is finally starting to challenge for that spot. The summer break will be really important for the 25-year-old to work on himself and to ensure that he does not lose focus during the next couple of months
We really don’t see Saka being sidelined anytime soon but with Aubameyang’s form dipping in the past few months, there’s every chance that Mikel Arteta might think of using Nicolas Pepe on the left-hand side of attack.
