It appears that Santi Cazorla has competition for his place as chief penalty taker at Arsenal after Lucas Perez scored one on the hour in the 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the third round of the EFL Cup.
Arsene Wenger confirmed after Alexis Sanchez missed in the 3-1 win at Hull City that Cazorla was the first choice penalty taker and that he was unsure as to why the Chilean took the stop kick which was saved by Eldin Jakupovic.
It was only Perez’ second start since joining from Deportivo La Coruna but he grabbed a brace in the Gunners’ comprehensive win over the Championship side, where the 28-year-old was part of a much changed side from the one that has been playing in the league.
It will be very interesting to see who takes the next penalty the Londoners are awarded as currently Perez has score ten of the eleven he has taken.
The French manager also praised his new number nine, saying: “The part he played in the Oxlade-Chamberlain goal showed that he is an intelligent player.”
And for Arsenal all three penalties taken by Spanish players all three been scored, while the two taken by non-Spaniards have not been converted.
Fellow new signing Granit Xhaka opened the scoring with another 30-yard effort – like he scored at Hull – with this one taking a slight deflection on its way into the goal, before a Perez double, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain popped up with the final goal at the start of injury time.
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