Alexis Sanchez scored twice as Arsenal secured a 4-1 victory over 10-man Hull City at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday.
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Early pressure told in the 17th minute when Eldin Jakupovic palmed Theo Walcott’s cross into the path of Alex Iwobi.
But Hull’s hopes of a comeback were dashed as Sanchez made it 3-1 and Granit Xhaka rounded off the scoring with a superb long-range strike. The fact they were able to stay in a close game with 10 men may even be an encouraging sign for Mike Phelan. The scoreline itself will provide a confidence boost too. But without him, Sanchez is thriving in the striker’s role.
“We’ve got to go in there full of confidence and see if we can get something from the game”.
“We are a bit more mature now. I don’t think he will be included [against Hull], he might play on Tuesday night”, Wenger said.
Credit Hull with bouncing back and winning a penalty when Dieumerci Mbokani was brought down by Petr Cech in the area.
“We managed to pull it back to 2-1 and at that stage you’re thinking “keep going, there might be a chance coming our way” but to concede so soon after that killed that momentum”. Some heavy touches saw promising moves break down.
“It fires not just myself up but also the players”, he explained.
Granit Xhaka continues on the bench for the Gunners today – Arsene Wenger has outlined his plans for the Swiss global for this season, but the manager is persvering with the partnership of Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin today.
MF Santi Cazorla, 7 – Skirted with a second yellow card at times, hence his removal midway through the second half, but as ever acted as the midfield fulcrum.
“I’ve had friends ringing and texting saying, “You should hear what Thierry Henry has just said about you on Sky”.
MF Alex Iwobi, 8 – What attacking promise this young man has.
Hull, who became the first club since Aston Villa eight years ago to name an unchanged line-up in their first five Premier League games, rarely looked likely to end their 101-year wait for a home victory against the Londoners. His second goal was impressive, but it wasn’t a convincing audition that suggests this will be his long-term position. SUBS: Perez 6, Xhaka 7, Eleny 6. The discord from those in amber and black on the pitch and the stands clearly failed to appreciate it was a case of arm to ball, a fact underlined by the lack of protest from the stand-in centre-back himself.
Xhaka is expected to start today and Wenger said: “It’s not about his quality at the moment – he adapts to the pace of the English game – and for me it’s about pairs as well, who work together”. He was tidy throughout.
MF Mohamed Elneny, N/R – Brought on to shore things up at 2-0, and nearly immediately Arsenal conceded.
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Andrew Mangan is one of ESPN FC’s Arsenal bloggers.
