Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal Vs Basel: Recap, Highlights And Analysis

By Andrew Dowdeswell

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 28: Theo Walcott of Arsenal ceclebrates after scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League group A match between Arsenal FC and FC Basel 1893 at the Emirates Stadium on September 28, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 28: Theo Walcott of Arsenal ceclebrates after scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League group A match between Arsenal FC and FC Basel 1893 at the Emirates Stadium on September 28, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal continued their Premier League campaign in scintillating fashion, seeing past Basel  2-0 thanks to two goals from Theo Walcott.

Arsenal were utterly sensational against Basel on Wednesday night. Emulating the weekend’s performance in which Chelsea were blitzed off the park thanks to an attacking display of pace and precision matched by a high press that suffocated the life out of an already lethargic Antonio Conte led side, the Gunners beat Basel 2-0 in truly fantastic fashion.

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Similarly, Arsene Wenger seemed intent on matching the intensity from Saturday’s match, playing the same team that played the majority of the game at the weekend – Granit Xhaka came on in the 31st minute replacing Francis Coquelin due to a knee injury. The midfield duo of Xhaka and Santi Cazorla dominated the game, passing with crispness and precision, always looking to move forward, unleashing the lethal pace of Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott in particular.

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The first goal came through the delightful exploitation of their superior speed. Cazorla, like a wise old owl, clips a delightful ball down the inside-left channel for Sanchez who had spun into the space. The Chilean just about reaches the pass before the byline, dinks a simple cross into the penalty area and Walcott simply wants it more than anyone else, drives towards the ball and powers a header into the goal to put his side one up.

While the first was magnificently ruthless, the second was simply magnificent. Again, the two main men were Walcott and Sanchez, this time playing a one-two down the right flank, releasing Theo in behind the Basel defence. In the vein of form that he is, Walcott simply looks up and calmly powers the ball into the far bottom left corner, with the ball striking the foot of the post before settling in the back of the net.

The remainder of the first half saw the Gunners dominate the game with some scintillating football. The combination passing between Ozil, Cazorla, Walcott and Sanchez was simply sublime, with Xhaka playing a key role as the deeper lying orchestrator, simply controlling play in consummate fashion.

The second half was much of the same for Wenger’s side, and while their cutting edge in front of goal was missing – Sanchez missed a particularly bad chance after Walcott’s neat cut back and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was unable to take advantage having rounded the Basel keeper on the break – their dominance was clear to see with Basel rarely posing a threat throughout.

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Arsenal will now travel to Burnley at the weekend in their return to domestic duties brimming with confidence after yet another fantastic win and even better performance. Wenger truly seems to have this team in very fine fettle. Very fine fettle indeed.

Highlights