Lacazette gives Arsenal injury scare after his first home goal

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) 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 equalizer 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 Aug. 6 before opening their Premier League campaign against Leicester City five days later, Wenger will be hoping Lacazette’s injury is nothing serious.

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, Lacazette’s injury and a sloppy defensive display meant it was a frustrating afternoon for the Arsenal manager.

Egypt midfielder Mohamed Elneny had been deployed as one of Arsenal’s three center-backs with only limited success during the team’s tour of Australia and China.

Wenger again experimented with the positional switch and Sevilla almost took advantage of Elneny’s lack of experience in his new role when Ever Banega clipped a pass beyond the Egyptian to put Wissam Ben Yedder clear on the edge of the area.

Ben Yedder took a touch before drilling a shot across Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech, only to see it hit a post and rebound to safety.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s future remains unresolved, with Chelsea and Liverpool said to be interested in the England winger, and he was by far Arsenal’s most impressive performer, with 17-year-old Joe Willock starting alongside him in midfield.

However, Correa put the Spanish side ahead in the 49th minute with a cool finish after sprinting onto Ben Yedder’s smart reverse pass.