"Deserves some respect", " Liquid gold" - Arsenal fans react to 26-year-old's brilliant performance against Wolves
Arsenal fans online heaped praise on the performance put in by 26-year-old winger Nicolas Pepe in their 2-1 Premier League win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Ivorian international scored one and was heavily involved in the other in their comeback win.
Wolves took the lead through Hwang Hee-chan following a defensive mishap from defender Gabriel Magalhaes early in the first half. The Gunners had to wait until the 82nd minute to score their equalizer, which came through Nicolas Pepe. The substitute spun to get the better of Romain Saiss to score past Jose Sa.
Pepe later provided the through ball to Alexandre Lacazette, who scored past the Wolves goalkeeper to secure all three points for the Gunners in the 95th minute. The strike, however, was, recorded as an own-goal scored by the Wolves goalkeeper.
Arsenal fans were pleased to see Nicolas Pepe get the opportunity to shine, which is exactly what he did.
Here are some of the best tweets in that regard:
Pepe should play more. He scores goals
Pepe with a goal and assist in 15 minutes, Nico Pepe deserves some respect!
When Mikel Arteta said everyone has a part to play, he f**king meant it and my word did Nicolas Pepe & Eddie Nketiah play their part in the top four challenge tonight!
Massive. Huge. Gargantuan.
Pepe scores, Nketiah with the assist. Emirates erupts. Ruben Neves isn't going to like that.
Brazyyyy composure to play 1-2 tek like that in the 95th minute insane stuff Pepe x Laca
Blud pree the spin and finish from Pepe, his confidence has been different since AFCON
For Pépé, who’s the definition of a confidence player, that cameo is liquid gold. He can be the short-term fix to our lack of a maverick/match winner.
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Nico Pepe 100% changed the game, deserves more game time. What a player 👑. https://t.co/5MEQk8sxYK
Mood before Pepe came on vs mood now https://t.co/XiR6hiuKqM
Nicolas Pepe was one of the marquee arrivals at Arsenal back in the summer of 2019. The 26-year-old winger arrived from Ligue 1 side Lille for a hefty fee of £72 million. However, the Ivorian has had a disappointing time in the Premier League.
Pepe has become a forgotten man at the Emirates Stadium this season. The 26-year-old forward has featured in just 11 Premier League matches this season, with six of his appearances coming off the bench. As things stand, his overall record for the season stands at three goals and five assists. Most of them have come in the Carabao Cup.
Nicolas Pepe has fallen down the pecking order since the emergence of youngsters Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli.
Arsenal take a giant step towards securing a top-four berth in the Premier League
Following their 2-1 win over Wolves, the Gunners are currently fifth in the Premier League standings, having amassed 45 points from 24 matches. They have now defeated Wolves for a second time in the month of February.
Mikel Arteta's side are now just one point behind fourth-placed Manchester United. Arsenal, however, do have two games in hand over the Red Devils.
It is also worth mentioning that both sides are due to face each other at the Emirates Stadium in the month of April.
NEVER. GIVE. UP 👊 https://t.co/pVZCCyrN4J
Arsenal will now travel to Vicarage Road on March 6th to take on a struggling Watford side who are currently in the relegation zone.