Alexandre Lacazette has Arsenal fans reminiscing of club legend Ian Wright as record signing shines in dramatic debut victory over Leicester
- Arsenal beat Leicester 4-3 on a dramatic opening night in the Premier League
- Alexandre Lacazette scored the opening goal 94 seconds into his debut
- The record signing's performance had Gunners fans reminiscing of Ian Wright
September 25, 1991; a day Ian Wright will remember well.
Edge of the area. Right foot. Bang. Wright scores on his Arsenal debut in a League Cup tie against Leicester City at Filbert Street.
What followed during Wright's eight years in north London is folklore.
Alexandre Lacazette celebrates after scoring his debut goal for Arsenal in the second minute
The French striker reminded Gunners fans of club legend Ian Wright at the Emirates
Fast forward 26 years and the similarities are hard to ignore.
August 11, 2017, a day Alexandre Lacazette will never forget.
Mohamed Elneny cross. Header. Bang. Lacazette scores on his Arsenal debut. Spooky stuff.
But that isn't where the resemblance stops.
Arsenal have spent five years searching for the next Robin van Persie.
But in Alexandre Lacazette they look to have found the new Ian Wright. Arsene Wenger will certainly settle for that.
One swallow doesn't make a summer, of course. But there were enough indicators to suggest Lacazette can write himself in the Arsenal history books.
Lacazette (left) breaks the deadlock with a fine header in just the 94th second
Wright also scored on his Arsenal debut and went on to have a legendary career
Despite his 5ft 9in stature Wright scored his fair share of headed goals; finding space in between defenders to make light of height disadvantage.
Lacazette, also 5ft 9in, didn't even leave the ground to direct a perfectly timed header past Kasper Schmeichel.
Right place, right time. It's a knack Wright mastered during his career.
On this evidence, Lacazette looks to have a similar aptitude for where to position himself in the penalty area.
It was, of course, the perfect start for Lacazette.
A £52million price tag can weigh heavily on a striker's mind. Here he is, the answer to Arsenal's central striker conundrum, an answer they've been search for since Van Persie's acrimonious exit to Manchester United in 2012.
The record signing troubled Leicester throughout and looked at home in the Premier League
The burden of that price tag would have grown heavier with every minute he'd have gone without scoring.
It weighed heavy for all of 94 seconds - the amount of time it took for the France international to open his Arsenal account.
Olivier Giroud has made a good fist of making the No 9 role his own, so too has Danny Welbeck,
Similarly, playing Alexis Sanchez as a central striker worked for a period last season. But the role now belongs to Lacazette.
But it wasn't just his goal that had Gooners reminiscing of Wright.
His energy, like Wright, was infectious. Closing down, harrying defenders; a menace - just like his predecessor.
Lacazette celebrates after making the dream start to his Arsenal career
An all-round headache for the opposition, just ask Marc Albrighton who survived a penalty shout when he was robbed of the ball by the former Lyon striker in the first half.
Leicester couldn't take his eyes off him for a moment. When they did, he helped create Arsenal's equaliser in first-half stoppage time.
One thing he hasn't mastered quite as well as Wright is the goal celebration.
Arms outstretched to the side, Lacazette simply stood on the very spot he headed Arsenal ahead to accept the adulation of his new team-mates and supporters.
Not quite the exuberant levels set by Wright - who scored 185 goals for Arsenal - during the 1990s.
But if Arsenal supporters get to see that demure celebration another 184 times, they won't hold it against him.
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