Alexandre Lacazette says Arsenal teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is ‘like a brother’ to him

Both the Arsenal forwards have already scored four Premier League goals this season

Alexandre Lacazette has hailed his rival Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as “like a brother”, after each man scored twice in Sunday’s win at Fulham.

Lacazette and Aubameyang, who arrived at Arsenal within six months of one another, initially looked to be competing for one position in the Arsenal first team. But the pair have grown very close over the course of 2018, with Unai Emery frequently using Aubameyang wide on the left so that he can play both together.

On Sunday afternoon at Craven Cottage, Lacazette started, with Aubameyang on the bench. But when Lacazette scored for Arsenal he ran over to the touchline to celebrate with his great friend. Aubameyang came on in the second half and scored two goals of his own. Each man now has four Premier League goals already this season.

Speaking after the game on Sunday afternoon, Lacazette spoke warmly about his relationship with Aubameyang. “It is good, he is like my brother,” Lacazette said of the Gabon international. “We talk every day and we love working together. Today in front of the goal we scored two goals each, which is good.”

Emery, when asked about the relationship between the two, put it in more methodical terms. “It’s a long process to know after every training, every matches, every decision, we are clever on the pitch,” Emery said. “Tactically in the system.”

Aubameyang now has 16 goals in his first 23 Arsenal appearances, a better record than Thierry Henry had in his first year at the club. That has prompted more comparisons between the two but even Lacazette admitted that his great friend Aubameyang had joined the club at a more senior level from Borussia Dortmund than Henry did. And therefore that their records were not entirely comparable. “It is hard to compare with Thierry because he came was younger and Auba is at the top of his career,” Lacazette said. “But I hope Auba scores as many goals to help us win something.”

Aubameyang would need another 212 Arsenal goals to get to the level of Henry but there can still be some optimism at the club about that run of nine straight wins. Lacazette talked down the prospect of a top four finish right now, but it feels as if they are heading the right way. “The team spirit is good, of course when you win it is better,” he said. “We are working well and we want to continue like this. To talk about the top four is early I think, we have to keep quiet and work like we did before and the season is going well. Just work as we did and we will see at the end of the season.”