Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gives Arsenal fans timely reminder of just how good he can be

Right, let's not beat around the bush here - this season has been absolute sh*te for Arsenal fans. There you go, we've ripped the bandage off and got it out the way early doors - the only way is up.

The one shining light from the Gunners' shocking season thus far has been the emergence of some very gifted youngsters. Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe in particular have been revelations in an Arsenal side packed with overpaid, underperforming, seasoned internationals.

Mikel Arteta's side's 3-0 over Newcastle on Monday night was yet further proof of the pair's quality, with the latter in particular producing a standout performance.

However, amid all the fanfare and furore over Arsenal's youngsters, the return to form of their best player almost went under the radar a little.

It looked as if it was just going to be one of those games for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - or should we say another one of those games - after the Gabon international inexplicably crashed his close-range effort off the woodwork when tasked with tapping home into a virtually empty net.

To his credit he continued to surge forward, desperate to add to his measly three league goals this campaign, and shortly after the interval he got his reward.

It may not have been the archetypal 'in off his backside' goal which classically tends to break a striker's barren spell, but it certainly wasn't a vintage finish - despite what you may have thought upon first viewing.

The Arsenal striker appeared to attempt to wrap his left foot around the ball and arrow his effort across Karl Darlow in the Magpies goal, only for it to skew off his boot and completely wrong-foot the Newcastle keeper. It might have looked impressive, though in truth Darlow just made a complete mess of it by jumping out of the way - but nevertheless it was just what Aubameyang needed.

A second soon followed, and suddenly Arsenal's main man was back in business, almost doubling his league tally for the season in the space of 27 minutes - suddenly the swagger and the smile that we've come to expect from the Gunners captain was back.

There's never a bad time for a man you're paying £350,000-a-week to decide to start playing, but Monday's win over Newcastle was definitely a good time for Aubameyang to turn up.

Arteta's side have been on a decent run of form of late - dropping only two points in their previous five league games - yet talk of corners being turned is ludicrously premature.

The Gunners' four wins in their recent rich vein of form have come against Newcastle, West Brom, Brighton and a quite frankly abysmal Chelsea team.

Far sterner tests lie ahead, with trips to Southampton and Leicester as well as home games with Manchester City and Manchester United to come before the end of February - in little over a month, Arteta's men could be nervously peering over their shoulder once again.

While Arsenal's talented youngsters have undoubtedly provided a silver lining in what has basically been a four-month thunderstorm since the 2020/21 campaign kicked off, if the Gunners are to pick up points in huge games against the Manchester duo and the high-flying Foxes and Saints, they need their top players to step up to the mark and show both leadership and character.

On paper, Aubameyang's brace against Newcastle was just a good player scoring two pretty basic goals against an absolutely abject outfit - in reality, the goals meant a whole lot more.

No football fan wants to see their talisman enduring a torrid time in front of goal, but if you're going to pick a time for him to find his shooting boots, the game prior to a potentially season-defining run of fixtures isn't a bad time to choose.