endured an evening to forget against his former club Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
The former Gunners skipper has been underutilised by both and since signing for the Blues last summer from Barcelona.
Indeed, the 33-year-old was making his first start in the since the reverse fixture back in November when he suffered a similarly miserable fate as he watched his old teammates celebrate a 1-0 victory.
Chelsea’s chronic lack of goals, however, persuaded Lampard to gamble on the hope that the significance and sentiment of the occasion would galvanise Aubameyang.
No such luck as it transpired, however, with Aubameyang suffering the ignominy of being substituted at half-time with his side trailing 3-0 at the break.
The former Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund striker touched the ball on just nine occasions, with four of those coming from kick-offs.
Kai Havertz replaced the ailing Aubameyang at the start of the second period and although, initially, the changes looked to have made no difference, Chelsea worked their way back into the contest after the hosts missed more chances to extend their lead.
The Blues were able to celebrate on the second goa of Lampard’s interim tenure in the 6th minute when one of their many January recruits, Noni Madueke capitalised on a lapse in concentration from Oleksandr Zinchenko to prod home from close range.
, would be afforded a warm greeting.
He said: ‘Let’s say thank you,’ Arteta said. ‘Pay respect and gratitude for what he was.
‘He was an incredible player for us, scored a lot of goals, he was our captain, and he deserves that.’
Quizzed if he would remember Aubameyang for how his time at Arsenal ended, Arteta added: ‘Say thank you and be grateful.’
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