3 Things We Learnt From Arsenal’s Horrendous 2-2 Draw With Hull City

Danny Welbeck popped up with a late injury-time winner to spare Arsenal’s blushes as the Gunners drew 2-2 at home to Hull City. Having taken the lead early in the game, the home side fell behind early in the second half and their late pressure eventually paid off as the visitors’ defence, which had remained resolute for much of the game finally gave in. Alexis Sanchez starred in what was an otherwise disappointing result for the Gunners. A result which leaves them in sixth, with just two wins and five draws from their opening eight games.

Here are the major talking points from the game.

1. Either side could have won the game

At the end of the game, there is always a manager who walks out pleased with the result. whether it is because their team won or drew or even lost but by a small margin, one manager is always happy. But every so often there comes a game in which neither manager is particularly pleased with the result. And the game between Arsenal and Hull City was one of those occasions. When the final whistle blew, both Arsene Wenger and Steve Bruce had plenty of reasons to be disappointed with the result.

After dominating early on and taking the lead in the 13th minute after a brilliant solo goal by Alexis Sanchez, many thought that it was going to be easy for the Gunners. But barely a few minutes after taking the lead, they were back on level terms from a goal which should have been disallowed. Right from kickoff in the second half, Hull scored to take the lead and it looked as though they were going to walk away with the win. But the home side’s relentless late pressure paid off and they got the equaliser in stoppage time. Even then, it was just a point and a result that neither manager was too happy about.

2. Sanchez starting to repay Arsenal’s faith

With Mesut Ozil’s patchy form and Aaron Ramsey’s injury woes, the Gunners badly needed someone to step up to the plate. And right on cue, their big summer signing Alexis Sanchez showed just why Wenger was ready to splash the cash on him. The Chilean’s attacker’s combination of pace, close control and ability to penetrate through any defence meant that he was a constant thorn in the Hull defence.

Sanchez’s goal was a clear demonstration of why he is regarded as one of the finest wingers in the world at the moment. After picking the ball up on the right touch line, the Chilean attacked with a lot of purpose, beat a couple of defenders before calmly slotting the ball past Hull keeper Steve Harper from a tight angle. The 25-year-old’s performance was one of the few good things about Arsenal on another night in which they should have won comfortably but ended up huffing and puffing for a late equaliser which was created by who else, but Sanchez.

3. Arsenal flatter to deceive, yet again…

At the start of the game, Arsenal were just one point and one place above Hull, who were ninth in the table. After spending big in the summer, the Gunners would have expected a lot more than just two wins from their opening eight games. But their 2-2 draw with the Tigers now means that they are already 11 points behind league-leaders Chelsea with less than a quarter of the games played.

Much more importantly though, their inability to make the most of their winning situations is something that must certainly worry Wenger. His concerns were certainly evident in his post-match interview when he said “It’s a big concern. The other teams win and we don’t. We had 80% possession and only one point.” While it is true that they were unlucky for the first goal, had Mertesacker played to the whistle, it may have made Mo Diame’s chance that much harder and it was the German who was once again at fault for the second. And this is the side’s most experienced defender that we are talking about. Although the Frenchman has vowed to add to the club’s defense in January, there is a sense that even so early on, they are too far behind Chelsea and might have to make do with fighting for a Champions League spot, with or without new signings.