Alexandre Lacazette: I wanted to bring some energy

Alexandre Lacazette salvaged a point for Arsenal after scoring a late injury-time equaliser against Crystal Palace on Monday night. The Frenchman scored a valuable leveller with virtually the last kick of the game against Palace in their Premier League clash. It was an all-action display from the bench for the Frenchman. After being introduced to the action midway through the second half, his first contribution was to set up a chance for Emile Smith Rowe. Moments later he brought a fine diving save from Vicente Guaita. Deep into injury time, Lacazette was in the right place at the right time to score from close range.

“I wanted to bring a bit of energy to the team. We know when the fans in the stadium are alive and with us, it makes it hard for the opponent. Maybe because of the way we were playing at that moment, they were a bit sleepy, so I wanted to just bring some energy that I know they like, and to change the game,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s website.

“We spoke about never giving up and always playing football to the last minute. When we were winning we could have done more maybe, but I don’t know why that happened, but we managed to come back at the end. It’s my first time like this. I am just waiting my time, I work every day in training for this kind of moment when I can help the team and obviously today I scored so I’m really happy.”

Speaking about their recent unbeaten run, the Frenchman said, “It’s always better not to lose. Of course we wanted the three points today but sometimes when you can’t win, make sure you don’t lose.”

Asked about being frustrated on the bench, he replied, “Yes of course, it’s never easy to be on the bench, you always want to play and bring something to the team. This is what I tried to do.”

‘We got the reward that we deserved’

Meanwhile, manager Mikel Arteta spoke about how he liked the reaction of his team after they went behind in the second half. “The game had different periods with the way that we started really brave and dominant to score the first goal, but then we had a bad period when we started to give too many balls away and had no composure to control the game after having the lead,” he added.

“Then in the second half when we were again in control we gave the ball away two times and gave away two very cheap goals, but after that I really liked the reaction from the team, how they tried and we created more chances to score. In the end I think we got the reward that we deserved.”

“Sometimes when you concede the goals that we had, you generate a lot of frustration individually and collectively and you just throw the game away, and we didn’t do that. The subs, I think they were terrific, the way that they came on and they transmitted real belief to the crowd that we could score the goal. These things happen for a reason and in the end we scored a goal because we kept fighting until the end.”