SUMMARY

Alexis Sanchez has scored his sixth goal of the season but Arsenal are drawing 1-1 with Hull City at half time.

SETTING THE SCENE

Following an international break that had brought both good news and bad, Arsène Wenger made three changes to his side for the visit of last season’s vanquished FA Cup final opponents.
Much of the focus was on the backline, where the suspension of Calum Chambersand an Achilles injury to Laurent Koscielny caused some headaches. Hector Bellerin was brought in for his Premier League debut at right back, while Nacho Monreal was moved across to partner Per Mertesacker at centre back.
The only other change saw Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replace the injured Mesut Ozilon the left flank, with Alexis on the right and Santi Cazorla assuming the No 10 role behind Danny Welbeck.
One notable name on the teamsheet was Semi Ajayi, whose form with the under-21s saw him rewarded with a place on the bench for the first time. He was joined by Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey, who had recovered sufficiently from respective calf and hamstring injuries to return to first-team duty. Lukas Podolski, however, missed out due to illness.
Wenger had pinpointed Hull striker Nikica Jelavic as a threat ahead of the game, but the Croatian striker sustained a hamstring injury in the warm-up and was replaced by the dangerous Abel Hernandez.

FIRST HALF

With an inviting set of fixtures ahead of them, Wenger had spoken of the need for his side to build some momentum and they responded by making a fine start at an overcast Emirates Stadium.
Within five minutes, they had their first sight of goal as Alexis bought some space in the area and chipped across for the onrushing Jack Wilshere, but his header was just off target.
Moments later, Welbeck was played in through the middle but Steve Harper was equal to his firm effort, before quickly getting in the way of Alexis’ shot on the rebound.
It was all Arsenal and just before the 10-minute mark Harper was once again called into action, this time to brilliantly push Cazorla’s goalbound effort around the post.
A goal only seemed a matter of time and within three minutes it arrived from an already familiar source: the irrepressible Alexis.
The Chile international has made a superb start to life at Arsenal and he claimed his sixth goal in his last nine games by skipping into the area past Curtis Davies, looking up and drilling the ball across Harper into the bottom corner.
It was absolutely clinical and absolutely typical of this most effervescent of forwards.
However, there would soon be a twist. Despite Arsenal’s almost overwhelming dominance, Hull pulled level - and there was real sense of controversy about it.
It came as Mohamed Diame charged through to beat two men before losing control. The Senegalese midfielder kept on running but appeared to pull back Mathieu Flamini, who had forced his way in front of the midfielder.
Referee Roger East did not blow up though, and Diame simply barrelled through on goal and lifted the ball past Wojciech Szczesny. Despite the Gunners’ prolonged protests the officials, the goal would stand and it was game on once more.
Maybe it was the nature of the equaliser, but it soon became a much more even affair as the hosts’ dominance faltered and Hull grew in confidence. Much as Wilshere and Cazorla pushed and probed in the visitors’ final third, they came up against a well-disciplined defensive wall that made chances hard to come by.
An arm injury to Harper just before half time saw Hull’s plans further disrupted as substitute keeper Eldin Jukupovic came on, but the Gunners’ could not test him before the interval.