Arsenal’s win over Chelsea on Saturday makes the 14th FA Cup of the Gunnars making them the most successful club in the cup’s history. Also, Nicolas Pepe transferred to exactly a year ago, August 1st, 2019 and Arsenal won the FA Cup on August 1st, 2020.
The French-born Ivorian forward Nicolas Pepe, 25, is the club’s most expensive transfer, he was signed from Lille for a transfer fee of 72 million in the summer of 2019.
Pepe had only signed for Lille in 2017 from Angers, at Lille he excelled either as winger or a false under manager Marcelo Bielsa. He made 74 appearances for Lille scoring 34 goals in his first season with them and was named the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the year.
The Ivorian has found the English league a tough nut to crack with numerous injuries acting as setback in his first season and fans question why so much money was spend on a player who spent more time on the treatment table than the pitch.
Nicolas Pepe finally began to show glimpses of what he could do as he scored a penalty in the 3-2 win over Aston Villa, he further scored his first European goal for the club in a 3-2 win over Vitoria de Guimaraes, he scored a brace in that match with a beautifully stunning freekick which earned him the man of the match award.
Pepe has 31 appearances for Arsenal this season in the league with 9 of them coming from the bench with 5 goals to his name.
Pepe’s anniversary gift as he win FA Cup.
The winger had a perfect match for the Gunners as he won the FA Cup in style on the anniversary of his signing. Pepe started the game as a winger in a 3-4-3 formation which saw him work on the flank and covering for the midfield and wing-back when under pressure.
The game started slowly for Pepe as he toiled to hold onto the ball but his confidence grew after Captain Aubameyang had equalized for them from the spot-kick just before half time. Early in the second half, Pepe but the ball into the net but was ruled out for offside, he stepped up his game after this as he won freekicks for his side and displayed great footwork to set up Aubameyang for the winning goal of the match.
It was an outstanding performance for the club record signing who got an assists as he celebrates his first year as an Arsenal player and winning a trophy, and hopefully the first of many to come.
