LONDON (AP) – Once Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang started scoring, there was no stopping Arsenal.
The forward added a hat-trick to Wednesday’s 6-0 win against West Bromwich Albion in the second round of the League Cup.
Now, Spanish manager Mikel Arteta just needs his players to perform equally as impressively in the Premier League.
“This is good for building confidence in the team,” said Aubameyang. “We know we had a difficult start to the season.”
The pressure is on Arteta after Arsenal lost their first two Premier League games. On Saturday, he faces the champion Manchester City.
Arsenal hadn’t even scored this season until now. Aubameyang was infected with the coronavirus before the start of the campaign, missing the loss to Brentford and starting as a substitute in the loss to Chelsea on Sunday.
He couldn’t have scored goals as easy as his first-half double, which sent Arsenal into the third phase against third-tier Wimbledon.
Bukayo Saka’s deft feet led him to evade challenges before launching the ball at the feet of Aubameyang, who shot at goal from close range for Arsenal’s first goal of the campaign in the 17th minute.
Aubameyang scored his second goal an instant after Nicolas Pepe’s shot hit the post.
Saka scored five minutes into the second half, after a fine touch from Odegaard. Aubameyang made a warped shot to complete his hat-trick and Alexandre Lacazette shot at the goal with an assist from Pepe.
It wasn’t the biggest win of the night. Southampton beat fourth division Newport 8-0 for the biggest road win in club history.
An encounter between Premier League teams at St. James Park ended 0-0 before Burnley edged Newcastle 4-3 on penalties. Paraguayan Miguel Almirón’s shot was stopped by Burnley goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and Charlie Taylor scored for Sean Dyche’s club to advance. They will face Rochdale, of the fourth division.
The draw for the third round, in which the teams competing in European tournaments will already take part, took place on Wednesday night. Manchester City’s title defense will begin at home against third division Wycombe.
In other Premier team duels, United will face West Ham, Tottenham will face Wolverhampton, Chelsea will face Aston Villa and Liverpool will face Norwich.
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