Hot Yaya Sanogo comes gets four for Arsenal as the 'free' man outshines the £33m man
IT WAS difficult to tell who got the biggest cheer when Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez came on for his cameo debut yesterday – the £33million new boy or Yaya Sanogo, the man of the match he replaced.
By Colin Mafham
00:01, Sun, Aug 3, 2014
Sanogo as he grabbed his fourth goal [PA]
For 75 minutes before that Sanogo, a free transfer signing from Auxerre who has been plagued with injuries, became the unlikeliest of heroes with four cracking goals – three in five minutes either side of half time – with a display that battered poor Benfica into submission.
Even Arsene Wenger admitted afterwards that he didn't foresee the devastating impact the 21-year-old Frenchman would have.
The last time he saw one of his Arsenal players do that in a competitive game was five years ago at Anfield when Andre Arshavin was the destroyer.
"Football has a habit of surprising you, and it surprised me today," he admitted.
"Sanogo came here last year on a free and we have worked very hard with him. Now we want him to stay and be part of what we are trying to do."
Sanogo, a sort of Ade Adebayor play-alike, overshadowed Sanchez's arrival with what could go down as one of the shortest success stories of the season.
For he will almost certainly have to make way for first-choice Olivier Giroud when the real stuff starts in a fortnight's time. Be that as it may, Wenger will be well pleased with an Arsenal performance that augurs well for the coming season.
His team were, at times, mightily impressive against the Portuguese champions who were blown away before half time.
Arsenal's Joel Campbell (left) celebrates with team mates Yaya Sanogo (centre) and Hector Bellerin [PA]
Sanogo's third goal today was one of a striker of quality
Wenger said: "We are not completely ready yet, but for important parts of this game we played the way we really want to play. That is the most positive thing.
"Our game is based on movement, technical skill and togetherness in the final third so, overall, that's the positive side of our game today."
Wenger admitted that Sanogo's dramatic impact, and the performance and goal from Costa Rican Jody Campbell, have presented him with a problem or two.
He said: "We have some decisions to make when everybody plays well, that's true. But when everybody plays well that's what we want.
"These two need to play, of course, but they need to play here. We worked hard with Sanogo for six months and from January onwards he was slowly getting better. Now, we want him to stay here.
"Sanogo was injured for basically two years before he came to us. If you look at his goal-scoring record before he got injured it is quite frightening.
"For a while when he came back last season he could not score. You could see when he scored the first goal today, suddenly they came raining in.
Arsenal Premier League Preview
"I especially liked the third goal he scored. It was really the goal of a striker of quality."
The same applies to Campbell, who was making his Arsenal debut after spending two seasons on loan since signing for the Gunners in 2011.
Wenger said: "Campbell has done very well. I like the way he plays. He's good on the ball, creative and he has a good balance between individual skill and collective attitude. That's not easy to find.
"There is now no reason to let him go, either on loan or otherwise."
Both Sanogo and Campbell will get another chance to stake their claims for first-team football against Monaco this afternoon.
And Sanchez will get 45 minutes at the very least. The same will apply to Arsenal's other big money buy, Calum Chambers, who looked solid in a central defensive role.
Wenger added: "He played very well, was intelligent, showed good decision making, was calm on the ball and good in the air. He is 19 years old, and what he did is very promising."
Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea chasing Barcelona ace Ronald Araujo amid contract wrangle
Jeremy Clarkson slams 'nimby' neighbours for crushing his Diddly Squat 'restaurant dreams'
Chelsea identify new option to replace injured Ben Chilwell after Lucas Digne joins Villa
Man Utd hero Roy Keane names three players worth keeping after Aston Villa draw