Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has challenged his Arsenal players to ease the goalscoring burden on captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The Spaniard was delighted to see his side fight to a 2-1 win over West Ham on Saturday, with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah stepping up with the goals.
And Arteta is desperate for his side to share the goalscoring burden and not be over reliant on their talismanic skipper.
Arteta wants more dominance in terms of possession and more goals from his side this term, believing both are necessary to get back among the Premier League’s elite.
“We need to share the goals much better,” said Arteta, who has now seen five goals scored by four different players thus far.
"I have already explained it.
“We need to produce as a team if we are going to fight with the top teams in this country and if we just rely one player we are not going make it.
“So they all have to take responsibility – and I have to take it as well by producing those moments for players in different positions in order to achieve that target.”
Nketiah’s arrival off the bench to net the winner was just the tonic against a resolute Hammers side on Saturday.
And Arteta praised the England Under-21 striker’s “natural ability” for being in the right place at the right time.
“I think it is a natural ability that he has," he added. "Probably as well the really good education that he has had with the coaches in our academy, to find the right positions.
“He has the intuition and then obviously he is able to put the ball in the net with his quality and execution level that he has.
“He is aggressive. I am delighted. We know he is a threat. He is someone in the box who is a real danger and we have to use him.
“Every time I have given him the opportunity he has performed really well.”
Arsenal are back in action against Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
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