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Sunday’s misfortune is Thursday’s salvation. At Elland Road, Nicolas Pépé had cracked under the pressure of an unusual start in the Premier League and provoked the ire of his coach with a stupid red card. In Molde he had the immediate opportunity to confirm that he had learned his lesson and, knowing that he would be under the harshest of lights, this time he mastered the occasion perfectly.
Pépé’s natural talent has never been in doubt, but there have been many questions surrounding his ability to adapt to the demands of Mikel Arteta. The most recent request from the coach, delivered on the eve of this match, was for the Ivorian to take control of his destiny at Arsenal. It could hardly have received a more satisfying response as Pépé, who looked determined throughout the night, scored a well-executed first goal early in the second half and paved the way for the early Group B qualification that Arsenal craved.
Any regret could, this time, afford to be lenient. Moments before his goal, Pépé had left the crossbar reverberating with a violent 25-yard shot after Arsenal maneuvered the ball from their own goal line. It would have been one for the picture book, but, in a character with a lucid personal display, Pépé refused to wallow and improved immediately. Molde hadn’t completely cleared his lines since the previous pitch when Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ delivery simply eluded the tense Stian Rode Gregersen and hit Pépé, whose immaculate first touch set him up for a shot in the far corner and a spot behind. in the good books of Arteta.
“I am very happy,” said Arteta. “After something negative you want to see a reaction and stand out very quickly. I could see from the first minute by his body language that he was really brilliant; I really liked it.”
Arsenal had never kept a steady pace in the first half despite blinks from Pépé and Reiss Nelson, who performed well on the left wing and almost scored from the start. Once Pépé had lightened his load, they turned the screw. Nelson has his own points to prove, opting for a summer loan move to get it right under Arteta’s nose, and showed poacher instinct in the 55th minute when he made a smart and aggressive run to find Joe’s center. Willock and pass it. Andreas Linde.
“He’s made great strides in the last month,” Arteta said of Nelson. “He has shown what he can do. He is very vertical, a great player who runs behind and is very unpredictable ”. The latter quality is one that Arteta has cautiously considered in the Premier League, but here, when spaces were opened against a visible but carefree Molde, Arsenal played the second period with rare freedom.
Eddie Nketiah should have quickly added a third and Alexandre Lacazette, who started at No. 10, forced Linde to save well. With eight minutes to go, Folarin Balogun, widely regarded as a prodigy but who has yet to compromise his future with Arsenal, replaced Nketiah and almost immediately turned neatly into the area before closing things off. “He wants to stay, we want him to stay,” Arteta said, and Balogun could have his first start when Rapid Vienna visit next week, as there are fewer stakes for that match.
It was a good evening job on Molde’s artificial surface, although Arsenal survived the mandatory early scare. Sheriff Sinyan had scored an own goal when the two teams met in London and had the perfect opportunity to make amends when, in the 15th minute, a drilled cross from Eirik Hestad found him slipping in front of an empty net. But Sinyan somehow deflected him from the target, taking a heavy hit from the post for his problems, and the visitors avoided punishment for their lack of intensity.
Then Pépé stepped up and brought everyone else with him. “Today is the example,” said Arteta. “That is the level he needs to reach and from there he needs to keep improving, because he is capable of doing it.”
