Alexis Sanchez celebrates after scoring against Hull City. Picture Credit : Arsenal.com
Arsenal beat Hull City 3-1 at the KC Stadium, thanks to a brace from Alexis Sanchez and a goal by Aaron Ramsey. The double strike from Sanchez means that his goal tally now stands at 24 for the season. The result also sees the Gunners move to 70 points, level with Manchester City but with a game in hand.
Arsenal made the brighter start to the game and dictated play from the onset. Sanchez nearly found the back of the net in the 13th minute, when he cut in from the left wing and played a 1-2 with Mesut Ozil before firing a shot towards goal. But Hull goalkeeper Steve Harper was up to the challenge and made a good save to deny Sanchez. Hull could’ve taken the lead in the 23rd minute but Sone Aluko failed to score from close range.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger would’ve had his heart in his mouth, when Ramsey was on the receiving end of a tough tackle from Tom Huddlestone in the 24th minute. The key Arsenal midfielder limped off the field but managed to shake off the injury and continued playing. Arsenal took the lead soon after when Mesut Ozil stole the ball from Huddlestone and played the ball to Sanchez, who was fouled by Jake Livermore outside the box. The Chilean took the free-kick and scored after the ball took a slight deflection off a Hull City player. The Gunners would double their lead 5 minutes later, when Ramsey latched onto an inch perfect pass from Santi Cazorla. The Welshman controlled the ball perfectly, turned his marker and struck the ball past the goalkeeper. Sanchez would get his second goal of the night just before the half time break, when he ran onto a defence splitting pass from Ramsey. The Arsenal forward beat the offside trap and rounded the Hull goalkeeper before slotting the ball in the back of the net.
Hull gave a much improved performance in the 2nd half and managed to pull a goal back in the 55th minute. Ahmed Elmohamady whipped in a good cross for Stephen Quinn, who scored with a well placed header. But the comeback Hull were hoping for, was not to be, as Arsenal saw the rest of the game out without conceding another goal. Steve Bruce’s side have been drawn into the relegation battle and will have to win their remaining games to have a chance of surviving the drop.
