Mikel Arteta admitted he cannot guarantee Alexandre Lacazette will win back his place in the Arsenal team after the French striker came off the bench to clinch a 1-0 victory against West Ham on Saturday.
Arteta's side struggled to find any momentum for long periods at the Emirates Stadium and could easily have been behind before Lacazette settled a scrappy London derby.
He turned in Mesut Ozil's header with 12 minutes left, but it took several minutes before VAR finally confirmed the German was onside when he laid on the goal.
It was a sweet moment for Lacazette, who has been reduced to a substitute role on several occasions since Arteta took charge in December.
"It is my job to give the manager a big headache. I'm struggling to make the team but I'm happy to score again," said Lacazette, who has three goals in his last four games.
"Now I have to play well again the next game. Everyone wants to give their best." Arteta praised Lacazette's focus in the face of his demotion.
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But he said the form of youngster Eddie Nketiah, who started against the Hammers, plus the presence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who played on the left but could easily lead the attack, meant he had a welcome selection problem.
"We have two strikers that are making life difficult for me. They are both scoring and in a good moment," Arteta said.
"I thought Eddie was the choice today with the way we wanted to play. But I knew Laca was ready to score in the final moments.
I could see in his face he was alert and focused when I was talking to him."
"We are turning the corner in terms of results, but our ship still has to turn a few times more to see what we want to see. It doesn't happen overnight."
"I felt we should have been in front by half-time. That's the disappointing thing."
- Lacazette impact -
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