Alexis Sanchez: Arsenal star’s fine form will worry Chelsea – pundit

With Arsenal searching for an early goal to eliminate lingering jitters and uncertainty after three successive draws, their early pressure paid off when Alexis Sanchez was rewarded for his tenacity as he capitalised on Steve Cook’s terrible short backpass to finish assuredly and give his team the lead.

A period of pressure culminated in Callum Wilson calmly converting a penalty to get his team back on level terms, with Bournemouth going on to fashion the better opportunities until the closing minutes of the first half.

Arsenal stay fourth as a result of the victory, three points adrift of table-toppers Chelsea.

“I thought we were very good today, it’s very hard when you go behind early in the game, but the group responded very well, with maturity”, Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said.

On-loan Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere was ineligible to play for Bournemouth against his parent club, but his absence didn’t stop the visitors sticking to manager Eddie Howe’s philosophy of playing out from the back.

Sanchez brought down Mesut Ozil’s cross on the right-hand side of the box on the stroke of half-time but flashed an effort off the crossbar.

Minutes later it should’ve been 2-1. Monreal received it and guided a square ball towards the back post, which the England global was able to nod home from close-range.

The match was finally sealed on 90 minutes, with Giroud linking with Özil before cutting the ball back for the on-rushing Alexis to tap in.

Despite their improvement, Arsenal were lucky to stay ahead in the closing stages, as Monreal managed to avoid punishment for handling in the penalty area, before Cech denied former Arsenal trainee Benik Afobe from point-blank range.

Theo Walcott made the pivotal difference as he headed Monreal’s inviting cross into goal in the 53 minute.

He ended a run of four Arsenal games without a goal as he took his league tally to eight for the season. “I’m probably the happiest person in the world”, he exclaimed, when asked about the birth of his second child.

The Chile global has earned a reputation as one of the Premier League’s top attacking players since his arrival at the club from Barcelona in the summer of 2014.