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Arsene Wenger was happy to see Alexandre Lacazette score his first goal for Arsenal in the 2-0 preseason friendly win against Sydney. Lacazette became Arsenal's club-record signing when he joined from Lyon in a deal worth around €53m, and Wenger is aware of the pressure that comes with being a high-profile striker. "It is important for him to get that [first goal] off his shoulders because you expect to score if you are a striker," Wenger told a postmatch news conference. "You could see that he was happy but overall what we were looking for was to play at pace and to develop our collective game and for long periods in the game that was quite good for us. "We had tough opposition because they fought for every ball but at the end of the day their goalkeeper was the man of the match." Arsenal took an early lead through Per Mertesacker before Danny Welbeck missed the opportunity to increase their advantage from the penalty spot, seeing his effort saved by Sydney goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne. Despite that Wenger was happy with Welbeck's contribution and backed him to play an important role in the season ahead. "I would say that he worked very hard," the manager said. "He made many chances in the first half and was so keen to score that sometimes he looked too much for power. "He put into the game what we expect of him. He's a great team player and I expect him to have a big season. He was out for such a long time that I hope this will be a positive season for him."
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