Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has had an impressive 2018, but he failed to have an impact in his final game of the year – to a remarkable extent.
Arsenal were thrashed 5-1 by Liverpool on Saturday and Aubameyang was almost anonymous, with most of his involvement in the game coming from kick-offs.
Aubameyang led the line for the Gunners but completed just 10 passes in his 71 minutes on pitch. Six of those 10 were from kick-offs.
He also had only 13 touches and was limited to just one shot, which was off target
It was the second occasion an Arsenal player has played more than 70 minutes of a game this season and completed 10 passes or less, and, remarkably, the other occasion was Aubameyang in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool at the Emirates in November.
The striker played 73 minutes of that match and also completed only 10 passes.
Arsenal boss Unai Emery admitted his side endured a tough time at Anfield.
“After our goal they pushed and when they push here they play with determination,” he said.
“This is a difficult moment for us, it was a bad experience for us. But from a bad experience you must learn.”
