Sanchez remain in doubt but the duo proved key to
avoiding a potential slip-up in their Premier League
top-four ambitions at a historic bogey ground with
a 4-1 win over Stoke City.
Ozil and Sanchez will be out of contract at Arsenal
at the end of next season and negotiations over
extensions have been stalling, but they proved their
worth with a goal each to send the Gunners one
point behind fourth-placed Liverpool, who take on
West Ham on Sunday.
After Olivier Giroud's 42nd-minute opener, the pair
combined for a sensational second - Sanchez's
pinpoint pass finding Ozil in the box and the
German obliged with a lovely dink beyond Jack
Butland.
Stoke pulled a goal back in controversial fashion
as substitute Peter Crouch steered Marko
Arnautovic's cross into the back of the net with his
hand, but Sanchez eased Arsenal's nerves when
his deflected strike found the bottom-left corner
with 14 minutes remaining.
Prior to scoring his 50th Premier League goal the
Chilean signalled to the bench that he was
experiencing discomfort in his left thigh and he was
swiftly substituted, and his replacement Aaron
Ramsey set up Giroud for his second - the
Frenchman justifying his selection ahead of Danny
Welbeck.
The result means that should Liverpool fail to pick
up maximum points at London Stadium, Arsenal
will qualify for next season's Champions League by
winning their final two home games against
Sunderland and Everton.
Shkodran Mustafi came close to putting Arsenal
ahead in the ninth minute but his looping header
from Ozil's corner was tipped over by Butland.
Arsenal continued to press and a cross from the
returning Hector Bellerin could only be helped
towards the back post by Ryan Shawcross, though
Nacho Monreal saw his header come back off the
upright.
Stoke began to see more of possession but were
unable to test Petr Cech on his 400th Premier
League appearance and were dealt a blow three
minutes before the interval when Bellerin's low
delivery from the right was turned in by Giroud.
Arsenal doubled their advantage in fine fashion 10
minutes after the break. Ozil offloaded to Sanchez
and darted towards the box, with the Chilean
biding his time before sliding an excellent
throughball to the German's feet for a fine finish.
After Mame Biram Diouf spurned an opportunity in
the six-yard box, Stoke looked to have set up a
tense finale when Crouch illegally diverted
Arnautovic's cross into the net without the officials
noticing.
The game quickly descended into a scrappy affair
but Sanchez reasserted Arsenal's dominance with
a cross-goal finish from the edge of the box, a
touch off Shawcross helping it on its way.
The Chilean made way for Ramsey and, after being
denied by Butland, the Welshman latched onto
Ozil's pass in behind the Stoke defence and teed
up Giroud for his second.
It was a goal that ended any hope Stoke had of
mounting a comeback, though the injury to
Sanchez will provide Arsenal with cause for
- concern ahead of their run-in and the FA Cup final.
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