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da doce： This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
Arsenal and Aston Villa produced a thrilling encounter at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
For much of the game, it looked as though the Gunners would come away with nothing as the Villans twice took the lead, first through John McGinn and then Wesley Moraes.
However, despite being reduced to ten men after Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent off for two bookable offences, the Gunners put in a gutsy second-half display to come away with all three points thanks to a 3-2 victory.
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It was a big day for Nicolas Pepe, in particular. The Ivory Coast international has endured a slow start to the season, but he finally got his first goal for the club against the promoted side, albeit from the penalty spot. Nevertheless, his display was full of attacking threat.
The 24-year-old led the way in so many of the offensive statistics for Unai Emery’s side. He registered the joint-most shots on target – two, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hitting the same number – and he also had the most successful dribbles, with three. None of his teammates were able to match the four key passes he registered, either, showing that his vision was on point.
In general, his passing was impressive. He had an accuracy of 91.4%, and also provided three accurate crosses. Once again, that was the most on his team, and indeed across both sides.
It was important to note that Pepe was back in his favoured position on the right-wing for this match. Last weekend, against Watford, Emery had decided to play him up front alongside Aubameyang.
While he was not necessarily poor against the Hornets, he was not as effective alongside the Gabon international. Here against Dean Smith’s side, though, he was able to display the full array of weapons he has at his disposal.
The Emirates faithful will be hoping that their team can do it the easier way in future. With Pepe beginning to hit his stride in England, the chances of that happening will only increase.