Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

MIKEL Arteta is hoping that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will help fire Arsenal back up the Premier League table after the striker ended a six-game goal drought in midweek.

The Gunners skipper found the bottom corner of the net with aplomb against Southampton on Wednesday in a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium – Arsenal’s first goal from open play in almost 13 hours of football.

Arteta believes the strike will reignite Aubameyang’s ailing confidence, and that fans will now see the forward back to his best, starting on Saturday when the north Londoners travel to Everton.

“Hopefully it’s going to change everything dramatically and he’s going to score every game because this is what we need,” said the Arsenal boss.

“We need the points and in order to do that, we need to score many more goals and be more efficient when we have the chances. I think the goal against Southampton is going to make Auba really good.

“I’m sure that it’s going to take a lot of pressure off him and it’s going to release him.”

The draw against the Saints saw the Gunners end a run of three straight league defeats.

Perhaps even more importantly, especially for confidence going forward, it saw Arsenal avoid the unwanted record of losing five successive home games in the league for the first time in the club’s history.

Aubameyang ducked any suggestion that his goal was a big deal, insisting that winning and getting positive results are the only things that matter.

With Arsenal lying 15th in the table, he is probably right.

He added: “Tonight is not about my goal or me, it’s about the team. We need points so it doesn’t matter if I scored. For the moment, the most important thing to do is win games.”

The Gunners have to travel to Goodison Park this weekend without Gabriel, who was sent off against Southampton after picking up two bookings in the space of just four minutes.

Reflecting on Gabriel’s red card, Aubameyang said: “At the moment I think that we are sometimes a little bit nervous because we need points.

“Maybe sometimes we do stupid things but I can understand it.

“We have to stay cool in the head and try to be more diligent and keep 11 players on the pitch.”

The dismissal was the third time in five league outings that Arsenal have ended the match a player light.

Aubameyang continued: “It was tough to be 10-men again tonight but we take the point.

“I can’t say we are happy with that because we need points, but we take it. The team did a great job.”