LONDON: Alexandre Lacazette gave Arsenal an injury scare as the club’s record signing limped off after scoring his first home goal in Sunday’s 2-1 Emirates Cup defeat against Sevilla.
Lacazette is under pressure to make an immediate impact after Arsene Wenger splashed out £52 million ($68 million, 58 million euros) to sign the France striker from Lyon earlier this month.
The 26-year-old shrugged off an anonymous first half to mark his maiden start at the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal’s second-half equaliser after Joaquin Correa had put the Spaniards ahead. But Lacazette’s afternoon ended in pain when he was forced off in the closing stages of the pre-season friendly.
With Arsenal due to face Chelsea in the Community Shield at Wembley on August 6 before opening their Premier League campaign against Leicester City five days later, Wenger will be hoping Lacazette’s injury is nothing serious.
Wenger’s initial impression was that Lacazette would recover quickly.
“He was OK. I took him off but it was not because of the injury,” said Wenger.
“He suffered because we were a bit flat and he didn’t get much service. But when he was involved he was intelligent, he protected the ball well and he got his goal.”
“That’s him. To score goals is to be in the right place when the cross comes in and he has that quality.”
Steven N’Zonzi scored Sevilla’s winner, but Arsenal finished top of the four-team group on goals scored to clinch the Emirates Cup for a fifth time.
Having thrashed Benfica 5-2 on Saturday, Wenger was far more interested in his team delivering a positive performance than securing a meaningless pre-season prize.
In the end, a sloppy defensive display meant it was a frustrating afternoon for the Arsenal manager.
Correa put the Spanish side ahead in the 49th minute with a cool finish after sprinting onto Ben Yedder’s smart reverse pass.
Lacazette then shot tamely at David Soria before making amends with the equaliser in the 62nd minute.
In Sunday’s other Emirates Cup match, RB Leipzig won 2-0 against Portuguese champions Benfica. — AFP
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