Lukas Podolski (L) congratulates Santi Cazorla after the second goal against Liverpool at Anfield.LONDON: Germany international Lukas Podolski was thrilled to open his account for new club Arsenal in their 2-0 victory at Liverpool yesterday.

The striker arrived from Cologne with the job of bolstering Arsenal's front-line even before the departure of talisman Robin van Persie to Manchester United.

The 27-year-old converted a classy pass from fellow new-signing Santi Cazorla, who went on to seal victory with a goal of his own in the second half.

"It was a good day for us and for me, scoring my first goal for Arsenal," Podolski told Sky Sports.

"It was a great pass, I got the ball on my left foot and scored. I'm very happy.

"We've only played three matches, we have five points and we need to play like that and keep winning matches."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger credited the Gunners' win to the strength of a solid team performance.

Wenger was thrilled his new arrivals could net early in their Arsenal careers with the weight of expectation heavier than usual following star striker van Persie's move to United.

"It's always a test when you arrive at a club like Arsenal," said Wenger.

"People have seen many, many, many great players so you have to convince people. They know what makes a good player.

"I think slowly they can convince our fans they are good enough to play for us."

Arsenal impressed with their defensive strength during the game, repeatedly closing Liverpool out.

"It's like scoring goals, as long as you don't concede everybody defends a bit better as they want to keep the record, and that helps," said Wenger.

"But overall credit to the whole team, they defended well."

A resilient Wenger looks ready to put the van Persie move behind him and look to the future.

"Unfortunately with the quality we had we have lost Robin, but we couldn't do anything against that."

- mD