The Gunners seemed to be cruising against 10 men Hull City after Jake Livermore was shown a red card for a deliberate handball, which also resulted in a penalty which Alexis Sanchez missed.
Advertisement
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was unhappy that Sanchez took the spot kick over the usual penalty-taker, Sant Cazorla.
The £35million Switzerland global is yet to dislodge Wenger’s preferred central midfield pairing of Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin, but the manager is adamant he is capable of more.
“Fitness-wise he has been behind Koscielny and Ozil”, said Wenger, according to the official club website. Phelan said: “They are very hard to play with 11 men, let alone 10, but for 40 minutes I thought we were in a decent position”.
Jake Livermore made life hard for the home-side after being given a red card for handball in the box after only 40 minutes of play, gifting Sanchez a chance to double the lead.
It looked like Iwobi had scored his first league goal for the season when Arsenal went in front after 17 minutes, but the goal was later credited to Alexi Sanchez with Iwobi the provider.
Sanchez struck late to earn Arsenal a point in the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, and he played an influential role again on Saturday, although he was unable to complete a hat-trick.
“I’m very happy for him”, Wenger said. Theo, driving forward at pace, played the ball into Iwobi’s feet who, with his back to goal, took one touch and then backheeled the ball directly into the path of Walcott who had ran beyond the Hull defence.
The goal is Xhaka’s first for the Gunners, who have now won three in a row in the Premier League.
“That’s what you want, players with character and personality – maybe finally they’ve got one of them”, the former Arsenal defender added. “We will sit together when he is back”.
“He has a lot in the locker, he’s only 20 years old”. Many players take time to get into the team, but he will do that without any problem. “That gives me more confidence for every game I play”.
Advertisement
HULL (4-2-3-1): Jakupovic 6; Elmohamady 6, Livermore 5, Davies 6, Robertson 7; Huddlestone 5 (Mason 58, 5), CLUCAS 8; Meyler 7, Snodgrass 6, Diomande 5 (Maguire 42, 6); Hernandez 5 (Mbokoni 77).
