"He Is Worse Than Santos", "Give Him the Captain's Armband" - Fans React After Europa League Win Over Valencia

Arsenal went a step closer to the final of the Europa League through a 3-1 win over Valencia on Thursday night.

The tie which was the first leg of our semi-final project began with a heart-in-the-mouth scene which saw us concede in the 11th minute. We had failed to properly handle a corner from the opposition thereby gifting Rodrigo Moreno the chance to head it across goal for Diakhaby to nod one past Petr Cech in the midst of three Arsenal defenders.

Looking at how things played out in our last three league games, it was normal for we the fans to have a rigorously pounding heart but we did not have to bear the pain for too long as Alexandre Lacazette revived our hopes with a strike about seven minutes from the opener.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made a cut-back after a run before unselfishly laying a pass for the Frenchman to slot home.

Laca nodded in a Granit Xhaka cross to extend our lead before the break. He has become the third Arsenal player to score a brace in the semi-final of a European contest. The first two were Charley George and Steve Bould in the 1970 Fairs Cup and 1995 Cup Winners’ Cup respectively.

Fans were very happy that their prolific striker was there to deliver at a crucial moment and poured out encomiums for his sake. One made reference to his reaction after we conceded and demanded that he be honoured with the captain armband. The Twitter bandwagon did not also fail to lash out at Sead Kolasinac for his poor delivery at some point in the game. See tweets below:

Kolasinac is worse than Andre Santos

— AB (@yxng_ab) May 2, 2019

what a useless player Kolasinac is

— granit (@andre__gunner) May 2, 2019

What is KOLASINAC : Anything that has weight and occupy space #AFC

— LANRÈ OLUKÓYA (@larryoluks) May 2, 2019

I love Lacazette's leadership! Talking to the team when we conceded. Give him the captain's armband! pic.twitter.com/buiDQyRgnp

— ArsenalArena (@ArsenalArena) May 2, 2019

Aubameyang & Lacazette have 60 goals and assists combined this season. My strikers.

Now that’s what I call chemistry combined with world class. 👏

— Olle Le Mon (@OlleLeMon) May 2, 2019

Who needs a new technical director when we got Alex Lacazette? Announce Umtiti already @Arsenal

— LTArsenal™ (@ltarsenal) May 2, 2019

Lacazette was our best attacker, midfielder and defender...!!

— Jezza (@RoyalJezza) May 2, 2019

Lacazette is easily our player of the season outstanding performances and work rate

— Mohamed Elmi (@MohamedElmi1994) May 2, 2019

Lacazette let us down again. If we had the transfer funds i wouldve wanted us to replace him. 3-1 isnt enough, we needed to go to valencia with a minimum 4-1 on aggregate. We are probably the worst away team among the top clubs

— ⓢⓘⓡ ⓨⓤⓢⓤⓕ ⓐⓡⓞⓢ (@lanrearos) May 2, 2019

Imagine arsenal without lacazette and aubameyang. You’ve just imagined Newcastle United

— Steveö (@SteveoAFC1) May 2, 2019

There are no buts to Lacazette's game today. He played his socks off! You score some you miss some!

— Ouzo (@planetzozo) May 2, 2019

Aubameyang closed the day with our third by volleying in from close range. It was Kolasinac who got it right with his cross this time around.

The result puts Arsenal at advantage ahead of the return leg in Spain. The two-goal advantage means we have the upper hand going into the fixture and if we do not act like we have done in recent games, we should be sure of a place in Baku on May 28.

A game with Brighton & Hove, our last home match in the Premier League this season, will come on Sunday. Once done, we will make a trip to Spain to put finishing touches to what we have started.