Walcott double inspires Arsenal win

Thu, 29 Sep 2016 06:11:38 +0000

Theo Walcott scored twice as Arsenal put in a dominant home display against Basel in the Champions League.

It took the Gunners just six minutes to open the scoring as Walcott headed in from Alexis Sanchez’s cutback.

The two Arsenal men linked up again as Englishman Walcott drilled low into the net to complete a swift team move.

Basel goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik made good saves to deny Sanchez and Hector Bellerin, with Birkir Bjarnason coming close for the visitors.

Arsenal stunned rivals Chelsea 3-0 in the Premier League at the weekend and impressed again at the Emirates in this Group A encounter.

Arsene Wenger’s side are now unbeaten in eight games in all competitions since losing to Liverpool on the opening day of the season.

The sublime skill and movement of attacking trio Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Walcott, who already has five goals this season, was too much for Basel to handle and the margin of victory could have been far more emphatic.

Santi Cazorla controlled the tempo of the game with 94 passes – more than any other player on the pitch – while centre-backs Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi were largely untroubled.

Arsenal often start a season strongly before falling away, but if they can avoid major injuries and maintain a settled side, realistic challenges for the league title and the latter stages of the Champions League are not unthinkable.