Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was pleased seeing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang score in victory at Newcastle United.

Aubameyang appeared free of his bout of malaria and Arteta admits he played his captain with the view of starting him against Villarreal for their Europa League semifinal second-leg this week.

Arteta said, "We wanted to see how he could cope. On Thursday he was only able to play 10 or 15. He had some difficult days just before the game. He felt better before the game, I spoke with him and he wanted to start.

"He managed to play more minutes than we expected and score a goal too."

On Villarreal, he added: "We need to pick the right team to beat them and then on the substitutions, which are key in Europe. We'll go for it."