Gunners on fire!

Hull 1-4 Arsenal

Arsenal produced quite possibly their best performance of the season so far as they defeated 10 man Hull City with ease.

The Gunners attacking play was at its free flowing best as utilising Alexis Sanchez as the lone striker finally paid off.

The Chilean is never going to be a target man and therefore tends to drift into the number 10 position when the ball is played forward. It is therefore imperative that the two wide players, in this case, Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi, or the attacking midfielders make runs beyond Sanzhez to offer further attacking options. If this doesn’t happen, as was the case in the mid-week game against PSG, the attack becomes stifled and the ball is simply returned to the opposition.

Therefore it would appear that such tactics are at their most efficient when playing against the so called lesser teams. Against teams such as Hull City, it is safe to assume that Arsenal will enjoy the lion’s share of possession and therefore the attacking midfielders can have the confidence to surge beyond the lone striker, safe in the knowledge that possession is unlikely to be lost. Against the top sides however, possession is a valuable commodity. Therefore it is more difficult to get a foothold in the final third and commit players forward. As a result it is more beneficial to utilise a target man in this situation who can hold the ball up and bring the midfield into play.

Against Hull the combination play, one, two touch passing and movement were excellent at times and caused the home side numerous problems. With Sanchez dropping deep and Walcott and Iwobi running off him, Arsenal had several options going forward and at times flooded the Hull City penalty area with bodies. This is not something that Gunners fans are accustomed to seeing and therefore it can only be hoped that this is a sign of things to come.

Sanchez had already squandered a gilt edged chance, when firing over from close range, before getting his name on the score sheet somewhat inadvertently. As the Gunners built another attack, Walcott picked up the ball on the edge of the area and his cross come shot caught the Hull goalkeeper by surprise and he failed to parry the ball away to safety. Iwobi pounced immediately and his goal bound shot deflected off Sanchez, wrong footing the goalkeeper and nestling into the net. It was unfortunate for Iwobi to see his name later chalked off the scoreboard and the goal given to Sanchez as the Nigerian produced an excellent performance which deserved a goal. Iwobi is fast establishing himself as a first team regular and his strength, skill and pace should be a worry to the likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who could well see himself permanently on the substitutes’ bench as a result.

Having taken the lead, Arsenal’s task was made all the more easier by the decision by referee Roger East to issue a red card to Jake Livermore for a handball in the area. Having awarded the penalty the red card could be considered somewhat harsh, but the Gunners were relieved the decision had been taken as Sanchez missed the resulting penalty. Why the Chilean elected to take the penalty when the first choice, Santi Cazorla, was on the pitch, was a mystery to all including Arsene Wenger, who couldn’t explain it either in the post-match press conference.

Arsenal pressed home their advantage early in the second half, as delightful interplay between Iwobi and Walcott saw the Nigerian display great skill to back heel the ball into Walcott’s path, showing great weighting on the pass to enable the Englishman to clip the ball over the advancing goalkeeper without breaking stride. It was a wonderful goal which showcased the advantages of passing and movement at it’s best and highlighted just how frustrating it is when the Gunners display a distinct lack of movement up front in tight games.

With the game effectively won, Arsenal unfortunately showed a turn of complacency at the back and were made to pay for it. Shokdran Mustafi lost his bearings and the Hull City centre forward was through on goal, only to be felled by Cech leaving the referee with no choice but to point to the spot, except it was strangely not him who made the decision but the assistant referee. Robert Snodgrass showed Sanchez how a penalty should be taken to reduce the deficit and set up a close finish, however Arsenal soon restored their two goal advantage.

This time it was great interplay between Walcott and Sanchez which saw the Englishman sent through on goal. However on this occasion the goalkeeper got the better of him and saved Walcott’s effort, only to see the ball fall to Sanchez. The Chilean showed great composure to skip past one challenge and then with Hull defenders on the line, Sanchez cleverly elected to lift his shot into the roof of the net to double his tally for the afternoon.

All that was left now was to play out the final few minutes of the game but Granit Xhaka had other ideas and showcased his great talent by opening his account for the Gunners with a wonderful long range effort which flew into the back of the net.

This was a fine performance from Arsenal, but sterner tests will soon await them with Chelsea up next in the league on Saturday. The Gunners will not enjoy so much of the ball and therefore it will be interesting to see how Arsenal set up for this game. Olivier Giroud was absent against Hull with a mysterious foot injury, but this could have been really as a result of his ludicrous sending off. Unfortunately the Gunners do not have a similar centre forward currently in their ranks and even if he were selected against Chelsea, Giroud has performed poorly so far this season. If Wenger does stick with Sanchez up front, then it will be up to the attacking midfielders to display bravery and intelligence to select the right moments to surge forward in support of the attack and when to sit back for fear of being caught out on the counter. An intriguing contest awaits.