West Ham 1 Arsenal 5
In 24 minutes, Alexis Sanchez pinched the ball off Winston Reid and graciously set up Mesut Ozil to push in a goal from six yards.
Keeper Darren Randolph then made a very good double save while, at the other end, Koscielny defended like a lion, as always.
HALF-TIME SCORE : 0-1
It was 0-2 after Sanchez wriggled around Masuaku and aimed his shot low into the far corner.
Then Sanchez picked up a loose ball after a Winston Reid miskick and shot low into the bottom corner to put Arsenal 3-0 up.
Sub Andy Carroll headed in to make it 1-3 after a 25-yard free-kick from Payet bounced down off the underside.
Oxlade made it 1-4 with a bender from outside the D. His manager disapproves of shooting from so far out. Wenger’s laptop says that’s the wrong option, one that doesn’t pay off.
When Oxlade played Sanchez in, the red-hot No.7 did a dazzling foot feint to baffle the keeper,followed by a cheeky dink that put the icing on the cake.
So Alexis Sanchez had helped himself to a hat-trick in 14 minutes and every goal was a memorable finish.
West Ham had been spanked 5-1 in front of a crowd of almost 57,000, although many punters had left long before the end
It’s genuinely sad to see a patched-up Hammers side annihilated and humiliated in this way.
But at least they don’t have to face Alexis Sanchez every weekend.
On Match of the Day, Alan Shearer said, “Arsenal are a much better team this year because of him. I would also ask Arsene Wenger, if he is world class, why has he taken two years to play him centre forward?”
(Because Wenger is a superpatriot who wanted to supply a confident Olivier Giroud to natyonal manager Didier Deschamps, so France could win Euro 2016).
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In January 2016 I blogged this:
When Sanchez took England apart at Wembley, I said he was just what Arsenal need. I felt very strongly about that, wrote about it anyway to get it off my chest, never dreaming it would happen.
If you know that my favourite players are Denis Law, Patrick Vieira and Luis Suarez, you realise that I love warriors.
When the Chilean signed in 2014, I wrote : Alexis Sanchez is an exceptionally gifted and rugged footballer who can scrap, sprint, create and finish.
On February 5, 2016 my headline was Why Sanchez must play up top for Arsenal in next 14 games
Jamie Vardy has pace.
And Harry Kane has pace. Martial and Lukaku also have pace
Wenger loves pace, always has : Overmars, Anelka, Henry, Cole, Ljungberg.
Alexis Sanchez is a lightning gladiator who outspeeds defenders with his movement and quick thinking.
WHILE GIROUD IS A PLODDER.
Not hugely mobile, Giroud has solid link-up play, and scores some good goals in a quick-passing team that that creates many chances. And, to be fair, he provides a significant number of brilliant finishes in a season.
The title contenders have only 14 matches left and the transfer window has closed now.
After watching Arsenal play a 0-0 draw against Southampton at home, and seen the way Jamie Vardy scored his two goals against Liverpool, I’ve reached a predictable conclusion.
Drop Giroud to the bench, play Sanchez up top.
If you’re not winning, bring Giroud on for 20 minutes.
The star who won the Copa America for Chile is Arsenal’s most determined player, their most inventive player, and the bravest warrior in their squad.
And Sanchez is Arsenal’s best finisher by a country kilometre.
If they gave him the chance to be Vardy, he could win them the title.
Way back in September 2015 ,I wrote :
Verdict: Sanchez would be great with Lewandowski or Martial.
He’s wasting his artistry with this leaderless rabble from the Colney Creche.
Alexis Sanchez helped Chile to win the Copa America for the first time ever. He’s one of the heroes of Latin American football.
And now he has to try to combine with Walcott and Oxlade, who can’t read him or play him in.
Alexis Sanchez has vision, bottle, pace, instinct and two good feet. He’s a star gladiator who can win headers against defenders of six foot three. He could have played with Pele and Jairzinho in 1970. I’m not saying I would have dropped Tostao to play Sanchez, because the little guy blended so well with Pele, who admired Tostao’s finesse hugely.
But Sanchez, who looks out of place in this Arsenal team, would not have been out of place in the Brazil’s World Cup-winning team in Mexico.
All last year, all through 2014, and often before that, I’ve said that Arsenal are one of the Top 16 teams in Europe but not one of the top eight.