Unai Emery hailed Nicolas Pepe’s match-winning impact as “perfect” after Arsenal’s club-record signing came off the bench to see off Vitoria Guimaraes.
The Europa League tie appeared to be heading in the direction of the Portuguese side after they twice took the lead at the Emirates Stadium, only for the £72million summer arrival to hit two free-kicks – the second of which came in stoppage time – and seal an undeserved 3-2 win.
After losing at Sheffield United on Monday night, Emery launched an impassioned defence of his tenure as Gunners boss on the eve of the Group F clash.
But what followed was a below-par performance rescued by the brilliance of Pepe, who until then had struggled to live up to his hefty price-tag.
Without a goal from their first two games and with no away win in Europe since 2005, Vitoria stunned the home crowd as former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards opened the scoring before Bruno Duarte restored their lead following Gabriel Martinelli’s equaliser.
With more than one “Emery Out” banner displayed and the crowd singing for Mesut Ozil – again absent from the matchday squad – it was clear Emery’s calls for patience from supporters had largely fallen on deaf ears.
But the stadium erupted as Pepe took centre stage late on. “We are very happy for him and for us because those two goals, from two set-pieces, were perfect,” Emery said of the Ivory Coast international. “He was trying a lot of set-piece shooting on the training ground last week and I was watching his shooting. “The most important thing is the three points and that some individual players can improve, that they can take confidence for us and for them. “Every player, usually, they need time to adapt. Pepe is a very good player and we believe in him, totally.”
Mesut Ozil’s absence was likely to be the elephant in the room should Arsenal have failed to maintain their winning start to their Europa League campaign.
The German has now been entirely left out of the last five games but Emery would not be drawn on the continued ostracism of the club’s highest earner. “Tonight is not the day to speak about that,” he added.
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