Gunners hang on for second win

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Cardiff 2

Arsenal 3

LONDON • It was a thrilling game, full of goals and riddled with mistakes and, by the end of it, Unai Emery could breathe a sigh of relief as he celebrated a second successive Arsenal victory yesterday.

Cardiff, to their credit, pushed Arsenal to the limit, aided by some dreadful defending and another difficult afternoon for goalkeeper Petr Cech but, ultimately, Emery's team had too much firepower up front as the Gunners triumphed 3-2 in Wales.

In a post-match interview with Sky Sports, Aaron Ramsey admitted the Gunners were still adapting to life under Emery, saying: "We know it is a process and every game, we improve that little bit."

The home team came from behind twice to peg the visitors back, with Cardiff scoring their first EPL goals. Victor Camarasa and Danny Ward capitalised on familiar frailties in an Arsenal defence that has conceded eight goals in their opening four matches.

The good news for Arsenal, however, is that things are starting to click at the other end of the pitch as Alexandre Lacazette, in his first start, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened their accounts for the new campaign.

Lacazette said that he wanted to show Emery that he deserved to be starting every game.

"I wanted to prove to the coach that I can be in the first 11," he said.

Shkodran Mustafi got the other with a header on a day when the art of defending seemed to go out the window for both sides.

THE GUARDIAN

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 03, 2018, with the headline Gunners hang on for second win. Subscribe