Alexandre Lacazette made a stunning start to his Arsenal career by scoring on his debut to wrap up a 2-0 victory over Sydney FC.

The striker netted within 14 minutes of coming off the substitutes’ bench late at a sold-out ANZ Stadium, to mark his arrival for a club-record fee in style.

It had looked until that point that a fourth-minute strike from Per Mertesacker, magnificent during the FA Cup final in his last Gunners appearance, would be the only goal of the game.

Danny Welbeck had a controversial second-half penalty saved by Sydney goalkeeper Andrew Redmayne, whose impressive performance ensured that the match remained in the balance until Lacazette’s late intervention.

The match was Arsenal’s first pre-season encounter, with a friendly against Western Sydney Wanderers to follow on Saturday.