Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was full of praise for new striker Lucas Perez after he scored his first goals for the club in Tuesday’s 4-0 EFL Cup win over Nottingham Forest.
The former Deportivo La Coruna forward joined the Gunners last month for a fee of £17.1m but had failed to start a game until Tuesday.
Switzerland international Granit Xhaka was also handed a rare start against Forest and he delivered almost immediately with the opening goal in the 23rd minute.
Perez then grabbed the headlines in the 60th minute as he scored from the penalty spot before grabbing his second of the night 11 minutes later.
The Spaniard also played a key role in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s injury-time strike and Wenger admits he produced a fine performance at the City Ground as the Gunners cruised into the last-16 of the EFL Cup.
“He has shown what I expected from him,” Wenger told Sky Sports. “He has shown he works hard for the team and he can score goals but he has shown he can also be a team player, especially for the fourth goal that Oxlade-Chamberlain scored.
He played a big part in that. “I’m very pleased with the effort he put in and with the quality he showed.” The Frenchman was also delighted with Xhaka’s strike, admitting the midfielder has surprised him with his ability in front of goal.
He added: “I knew he had a good shot but he played very deep last year and didn’t get forward a lot. I hope that will give him a taste for more but it’s great for him to get confidence as well and to know that he can score goals.”
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