Lacazette bags hat-trick in Arsenal friendly win over Brentford B
Alexandre Lacazette bags a hat-trick as Arsenal cruise to a 4-1 win in their friendly against Brentford B… with Mikel Arteta keeping a handful of his first-team stars fit and firing during the international break
- Arsenal thrashed Brentford’s B side 4-1 in a friendly on Wednesday afternoon
- Mikel Arteta put five of his senior players through their pace in the friendly
- Alexandre Lacazette, who scored a hat-trick at London Colney, was one of them
- Bernd Leno, Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares and Eddie Nketiah also featured
Arsenal ran out 4-1 winners in their friendly against Brentford’s B side on Wednesday, with Alexandre Lacazette firing home a hat-trick.
Gunners stars who did not head off on international duty this month were put through their paces in a friendly with the Bees reserves at their London Colney training ground.
As well as Lacazette, Mikel Arteta also fielded other first-team regulars in Bernd Leno, Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares and Eddie Nketiah.
Alexandre Lacazette scored a hat-trick in Arsenal’s 4-1 friendly win over Brentford B
Mikel Arteta put a handful of senior players and several youngsters through their paces
The rest of their team was made up of youngsters, including the likes of Charles Sagoe Jr, Bradley Ibrahim and Charlie Patino.
Arsenal dominated possession as expected and came close early on through Nketiah, who saw a low drive at goal save by young Brentford goalkeeper Roco Rees.
Holding also missed narrowly with a header from a corner before Lacazette opened the scoring in the 16th minute, sending a deflected effort from close range into the back of the net following a tricky run from Nketiah.
It was the latter who played a big part in their second after the break, with Lacazette tapping home the rebound after Ben Winterbottom pushed away his initial shot from distance.
Nuno Tavares was one of the first-team regulars who took part in Wednesday’s friendly
Eddie Nketiah was also in action against the Bees at their London Colney training ground
Bernd Leno was in between the sticks for the Gunners as they picked up a comfortable win
Charlie Patino was one of many Arsenal youngsters given a chance to impress Arteta
The French striker then completed his hat-trick with a long-range strike of his own, before Holding got in on the act by heading home from a corner.
Brentford, who created a few decent opportunities themselves at times, eventually netted a consolation when Julian Jeanvier headed in from Alex Gilbert’s free-kick.
Nico Jones almost pulled back another late on, only for his header to be cleared off the line.
The friendly represented a good opportunity for Arteta to keep a handful of his non-international senior players fit ahead of their return to Premier League action.
The likes of Lacazette and Rob Holding are now raring to go before the Premier League returns
Arsenal are set to go away to Crystal Palace on Monday night, a game the likes of Lacazette and Holding will now be fully prepared for.
The Gunners are in a solid position to secure a return to the Champions League next season, as Arteta’s side currently sit three points clear of bitter rivals Tottenham in fourth and have a game-in-hand to play.
They have been absent from the competition since the 2016/17 campaign, while this season they were left without European football entirely.
Share this article
Source: Read Full Article