Walcott shines as Arsenal trounce Benfica
LONDON: Theo Walcott gave Arsene Wenger a timely reminder of his qualities with a brace in Arsenal’s 5-2 friendly thrashing of Benfica as Alexandre Lacazette made his Gunners home debut in the Emirates Cup on Saturday.
Walcott is in danger of being reduced to a fringe figure following a disappointing campaign that ended with the England winger being left out of Arsenal’s FA Cup final win against Chelsea in May.
As if that wasn’t depressing enough for Walcott, he has watched Wenger splash out a club record £52 million ($68 million) for Lyon striker Lacazette and make a so far unsuccessful attempt to sign Monaco winger Thomas Lemar.
But, in his 11th year with Arsenal, 28-year-old Walcott served notice he isn’t going to be cast aside without a fight as he produced two clinical finishes and laid on the cross for a Lisandro Lopez own goal.
Olivier Giroud and Alex Iwobi were also on target as Arsenal ran riot in their first match in the four-team friendly tournament at the Emirates Stadium.
Lacazette, introduced to a huge roar, had few chances to impress in his brief cameo, but the France international is likely to start against Sevilla on Sunday.
Franco Cervi and Eduardo Salvio were the scorers for Portuguese champions Benfica, who looked lost at the back following the sale of Sweden defender Victor Lindelof to Manchester United.
Walcott started for Arsenal with Lacazette on the bench and wantaway forward Alexis Sanchez not due to return to training until Sunday after Confederations Cup duty with Chile.
But Walcott’s headline-grabbing show came after Arsenal fell behind in the 11th minute as Jonas set up Cervi to drill a low strike past David Ospina. - AFP