Following the Capital One cup victory at Tottenham, I said that I hope the game against Leicester would be the one in which Alexis Sanchez rediscovers his form and properly kick-starts his season...boy did he deliver!
The Chilean, who is in his second season with the Gunners, netted a hat-trick in between goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud, while Jamie Vardy hit both goals for the opposition as Leicester lost their first league game of the season.
With the visit of leaders Manchester United looming this was the ideal result for Arsene Wenger's men and will hopefully provide the boost of confidence needed to properly kick-start their season. It may not have been the best start to the season but the Gunners are in fact just three points behind United so maybe the season could yet end up being a good one. Don't get me wrong, I am not suddenly saying we will win the title, far from it, but we are certainly in with a better shout of a possible title challenge than we had been a few weeks ago.
However, it wasn't the best of starts for Arsenal in the East Midlands as Vardy put Leicester in front after just 13 minutes. Jeffrey Schlupp forced a decent save from Petr Cech and Vardy had hit a post before the deadlock was broken. The Foxes hit Arsenal on the counter attack with Vardy latching onto Danny Drinkwater's long ball, expertly controlling it with his head before running into the box and finishing from a tight angle.
Vardy almost grabbed his second of the game when his header hit the crossbar and that miss proved costly as straight away Arsenal hit the Foxes on the counter attack. Santi Cazorla's found Walcott with a perfectly-weighted through ball and the England striker calmly rolled a shot beyond Kasper Schmeichel after 18 minutes.
Sanchez put the visitors in front with his first goal of the game after 33 minutes, although the home fans will undoubtedly have been frustrated that it wasn't pulled back for a foul by Mikel Arteta on Shinji Okazaki earlier in the move. Arsenal continued to break and Mesut Ozil set up Hector Bellerin to send in a low cross for Sanchez to fire home from close range. It was Sanchez's first goal of the season and the start of a great afternoon for the 26-year-old.
Arsenal extended their advantage after 57 minutes when Sanchez headed home from Ozil's delightful chipped pass. Sanchez then completed his hat-trick 10 minutes from time, showing a superb first touch to flick it past his man before beating Schemiechel with a fierce drive from the edge of the box.
Leicester pulled a goal back in the final minutes of the match as Vardy netted his second. Riyad Mahrez's cross found Andrej Kramaric and the substitute's effort was well saved by Cech, but Vardy was on hand to score from the rebound.
Arsenal had the final say as substitute Giroud fired home from Nacho Monreal's assist to add further gloss to the scoreline in what was a great afternoon for the Gunners.
OPPOSITION'S VIEW
Leicester fan Jack Kinsey remained upbeat despite the result and is still proud of the effort put in by his club.
"I think we started off really well, which showed in Vardy's several chances to score and near misses," said Kinsey. "Arsenal just did well at what we've been doing this season and took advantage of the counter attack and they finished well.
"I don't think the Leicester boys should be ashamed as it's not as if it was a 5-0 romping.
"They just need to get focussed on the Norwich game and hopefully it will only be Arsenal to get the win over us."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
It was a truly brilliant win for the Gunners and to score five away to a team who, before kick-off, were the only unbeaten side in the Premier League this season is a great achievement. But we cannot get carried away and must not get complacent. It is clear that the next league match at home to Manchester United will be an entirely different challenge and, with Louis Van Gaal's men at the top of the table, we will have to be at our best to get a result.
Before we can even start thinking about Manchester United, we must turn our attentions to the Champions League clash with Olympiakos. After the horror start to our European campaign - an away defeat to Dinamo Zagreb - there is no margin for error and if we are to give ourselves the best chance of qualifying out of the group stages we must get a victory against our Greek opponents. Nothing other than a win will do! Here's hoping Sanchez can put on another masterclass!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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