Alexandre Lacazette admits it is not easy being on the bench for the first time in his Arsenal career, but is determined to stay patient and take his chances after scoring a last-gasp equaliser against Crystal Palace.
Lacazette scored with virtually the last kick of the game at Emirates Stadium to claim a 2-2 draw for the Gunners and rescue a point.
Before that, Mikel Arteta’s side had looked destined to suffer their first defeat since August after Christian Benteke and Odsonne Edouard had cancelled out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s opener.
Lacazette, however, struck deep into injury time after coming off the bench to help Arsenal extend their unbeaten run to six games.
The goal was the Frenchman’s first in the Premier League this season and he is yet to start a game in that competition, playing just 72 minutes as a substitute.
“Of course, it’s never easy to be on the bench,” said Lacazette, whose contract at Arsenal expires next summer.
“You always want to play and bring something to the team. This is what I tried to do.
“It’s my first time like this. I am just waiting my time, I work every day in training for this kind of moment when I can help the team and obviously today I scored so I’m really happy.
“We spoke about never giving up and always playing football to the last minute. When we were winning we could have done more maybe, but I don’t know why that happened, but we managed to come back at the end.
“It’s always better not to lose. Of course we wanted the three points today but sometimes when you can’t win, make sure you don’t lose.”
