Pepe contributed one goal and two assists in a terrific second-half display for the Gunners and speaking after the game, Souness compared the Ivorian with Gunners great Henry, who made a similarly slow beginning to his career at the north London side, he told Sky Sports: “I think there is a real, real player in there. You think of their best ever player Thierry [Henry]. He came here and didn’t have a great first season, took some time. I see Pepe being a star here, great feet, electric and still a baby.”
Pepe has contributed six goals and seven assists during the course of the current campaign and that remains a decent return for a player, who has come from a foreign league. Still, the Gunners would have anticipated more from the winger with the £72m package agreed for his services and hopefully, the 24-year-old can find the consistency during the backend of the season.
Arsenal have recently bagged successive wins in all competitions but most importantly, they have now kept three clean sheets on the bounce. The Capital outfit were guilty of conceding goals in almost every game under ex-boss Unai Emery but the fortunes have changed with Arteta at the helm.
The north London giants have conceded just five goals from the previous nine games in all competitions. Out of those, they conceded twice during the 2-2 Premier League at Chelsea where they were down to 10 men after just 26 minutes on the clock. The Gunners managed to seal the stalemate after a late equaliser from Hector Bellerin.