adminLONDON. — Alexis Sanchez was hailed as a “fighter and a quality talent player” by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger after inspiring the Gunners to a 3-0 English Premier League win over basement club Burnley.
Sanchez scored twice, either side of Calum Chambers finding the back of the net, as the hosts’ finally broke Burnley’s stubborn resistance with three goals inside the final 20 minutes at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Rounding off a good day for the Gunners was the sight of England winger Theo Walcott returning to top-flight football for the first time since suffering a cruciate ligament injury in January.
However, this result rested on Sanchez, who has now scored 10 goals in 16 appearances for Arsenal since joining the north London club in a £30 million pre-season move from Barcelona.
Sanchez’s determination and force defined the game, and decided it.
The nature of his 70th-minute goal that broke the deadlock was that of an old-fashioned British number-nine, and not what would usually be associated with a player as sleek as the Chilean.
But it was precisely the type of finish Wenger was talking about on Friday when the veteran French manager said Europe was no longer producing “street footballers” of Sanchez’s type.
Sanchez brilliantly got between and above the more physically imposing Kieran Trippier and Michael Duff, to impressively head home Arsenal’s opening goal.
It was a fine finish, and one that also finished 70 minutes of pure frustration. Burnley had been so bullishly defiant, which made Sanchez’s brute force all the more crucial.
“I think we had about 30 crosses today and for a while couldn’t win every header but in the end he got there,” Wenger said. — AFP.
Online Reporter