Rio Ferdinand praised Alexandre Lacazette for his performance

Rio Ferdinand praises Alexandre Lacazette for his goal in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Chelsea FC on Saturday

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Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand (Photo: BT Sport)

Rio Ferdinand praised Alexandre Lacazette for his performance as his opening goal helped to fire Arsenal to a 2-0 win over Chelsea FC at The Emirates on Saturday night.

Arsenal started brightly against their London rivals and took the lead when Lacazette expertly controlled Hector Bellerin’s cross and fired high into the roof of the net in the 14th minute.

Laurent Koscielny then made it 2-0 to the hosts in the 39th minute when he put a cross into the back of the net off his shoulder.

Arsenal held firm in the second half as they bounced back to winning ways following their disappointing defeat by West Ham United last weekend.

And former Manchester United star Ferdinand was clearly impressed by what he saw from Lacazette on Saturday night.

Speaking at half-time about Lacazette’s goal during BT Sport‘s coverage of the game, Ferdinand said: “This is phenomenal. This isn’t a surprise about Lacazette – we’ve seen him do this in France.

“The second touch is the best part of it. He gets away from the tackle and the way he stabs the ball past the goalkeeper is beautiful.”

Meanwhile, Steve McManaman praised Koscielny for his performance as he named him as his man of the match.

“I thought he has been excellent today,” McManaman told BT Sport. “Of course he scored a goal, but defensively he was brilliant. He got in the way of everything that came in the box. He was commanding and showed his organisational skills at the back.

“Considering the amount of time he’s missed and the injury he’s had, he has come in and been brilliant and a real leader for this Arsenal side.”

Arsenal’s win lifted them above Manchester United and back into fifth place in the Premier League table, and now just three points behind Chelsea FC.

The Gunners will return to FA Cup action next Friday night when they take on Manchester United in the fourth round.

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