Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang declares his love for strike partner Alexandre Lacazette

‘I love him and he’s a great guy,’ Aubameyang said after Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Chelsea

At almost the exact same time as a furious Maurizio Sarri was publicly questioning the motivation of his disappointing Chelsea side, Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was declaring his undying love for Alexandre Lacazette, his strike rival turned best friend.

“I love him and he’s a great guy,” Aubameyang smiled after a 2-0 win which preserved Arsenal’s flickering hopes of finishing in the top four. “We have such a good feeling between us.”

Given the circumstances, that’s something of a minor miracle for Arsenal. When, twelve months ago, Aubameyang was brought to the club from Borussia Dortmund for £60m, it was to provide direct competition to Lacazette. And when Unai Emery succeeded Arsene Wenger in the summer, he was quick to confirm that he had no plans to start the duo up front together.

“At the moment we need to control possession more, with more players inside,” he explained at the end of August. “It is not the time to play with two strikers.”

But it did not take long for Emery to change his mind. Just two weeks later, for an away match against Cardiff, he decided to ease off the handbrake and hand Lacazette his first start of the season, with Aubameyang deployed out wide on the left. They shone and before long Aubameyang was moved further inside, with the duo’s entertainingly old-fashioned strike partnership coming to define Arsenal’s attacking play.

The pair already have an impressive 22 Premier League goals between them this season, with a dewy-eyed Aubameyang quick to credit Lacazette for his role in Arsenal’s win over Chelsea. The Frenchman opened the scoring with a fine first-half strike, before a Laurent Koscielny header secured all three points at the Emirates.

“It was really nice [playing with Lacazette],” said Aubameyang. “I think we made a lot of runs, with a lot of effort for the team, and we worked a lot and of course we are happy when we play together because we have such a good feeling between us. It was cool.

“When I joined Arsenal he was here and he came to me and talked to me and now we are going well, we have the same vision about football and I love him. He is a great guy.

“I think it is nice between us, it’s not a bad rivalry, we are friends when one is going well the other is happy and that’s the most important thing, to do well.”

When asked whether playing with two out-and-out strikers is a tactic that can still work in an increasingly possession-obsessed Premier League, Aubameyang replied: “Why not? I hope. Sincerely, I hope so because when you have a striker like Alex near to you then he’s really good to play with. I hope we will play more games together.”

This is not the first time an admiring Aubameyang has spoken of his admiration for Lacazette. Earlier this season, Aubameyang said that there was a “spark” between the pair, revealing that they constantly “look for each other” on the pitch.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette enjoy some downtime (Arsenal FC via Getty)

They were both outstanding in Arsenal’s absolutely vital win, which saw Emery’s side move to within three points of fourth-placed Chelsea and back above Manchester United, who briefly went fifth after bearing Brighton. And Aubameyang added that he was confident Arsenal could move back into the top four in the coming weeks.

“It was very important,” he said. “We knew that it was important to get a result. It’s a very good win for us because now we are only three points from Chelsea. We’re not far. We will try to keep the distance very low.”