Why Arsenal fans were angry at Alexandre Lacazette despite his Valencia brace

Alexandre Lacazette was the match-winner with two goals as Arsenal came from behind to beat Valencia 3-1 in their Europa League semi-final first leg.

The Gunners recovered from a sluggish start to seize the upper hand in the tie but it’s all still to play for heading to Spain next Thursday.

A late Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang goal gave them breathing space and enabled a much more confident approach to the second leg.

But it looked for large periods like it would be a different story heading to Valencia – and despite his brace, Arsenal fans have blamed Lacazette for their failure to end the tie as a contest earlier.

Lacazette missed two guilt-edged chances in the second half, miscuing a header after a superb ball from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and seeing two efforts saved from point-blank range by a Neto double save.

It led to fans slamming the wasteful Frenchman on social media, pointing out the problem has been present with their strikers all season despite their strong goalscoring records.

A Gunners fan wrote: “Lacazette has made two vital contributions and been a constant menace but seriously, he should have four goals. We can’t afford to go giving Valencia mercy. I don’t give us much chance second leg.”

One fan claimed Lacazette had “caught Aubameyang syndrome” as he “bottled” two chances, with another asking “how are we so wasteful?” and declared they “must have one of the worst big chance conversion rates”.

Another stressed that “Lacazette missing point blank chances might cost us” and asked “how can you miss chances like this”?

It was referred to as “classic Lacazette” – and fans are now sweating over the second leg despite Aubameyang’s late nerve-settling strike.

The Gunners are facing an uphill task to reach the Premier League top four, and as a result the Europa League could be their best route back into the Champions League.

Missing out on a spot in Europe’s premier club competition could see manager Unai Emery forced to work with a much tighter budget over the summer.