Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil prove all our fears

In Arsenal’s win over Sunderland, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil were at the heart of all good things, proving all our fears if they do leave this summer.

It was a simultaneously wonderful and underwhelming performance from Arsenal on Tuesday night. They were fluent and free-flowing, with the ball zipping across the dark, damp green grass at a great pace, before being instantaneously killed and set off on its way again with exactly the same vivacity and incision.

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But in the final third, as the space contracted and the skill requisite heightened, such sweeping moves would come crashing to an abrupt halt, like waves up against a formidable sea barrier, with seemingly such damaging momentum before being stopped in their tracks.

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As the game progressed, there was an increasingly uneasy feeling around the Emirates stadium. The minutes ticked by and still no sign of a goal, no matter how hard they huffed and puffed. 50 minutes became 55. 55 became 60. 60 became 65. And suddenly, there was less than 20 minutes remaining without any reward found for all their hard work. There was a need of a spark; a special moment out of constructed out of nowhere.

That is when Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez entered the fray. The two had been at the heart of much of Arsenal’s threatening attacking play throughout the night, with the languid and flowing Ozil looking the especially likely to play the key, final, unpicking pass. And in the 72nd minute, he did exactly that. With the ball coming out to Granit Xhaka on the edge of the area, with time and space to work in, Ozil, from a wide left position, contorted his run and darted in behind the Sunderland defence. With a sumptuous side-footed half-volley, perfectly cushioning a slick ball in difficult conditions, laid the pass across the six-yard box, in stride for his partner in crime to simply poke the ball into the gaping, welcome net.

It was a wonderfully, exquisitely worked goal, with both Ozil and Sanchez playing key roles. Sanchez would then add to his tally a little under ten minutes later, being the sharpest in the box to hurry towards Olivier Giroud’s rebounded, acrobatic effort at goal and nod home, but it was perhaps Ozil, of the two, who was the most influential and instrumental throughout.

He completed 9 accurate crosses from wide areas, per WhoScored, more than any other player has in any Premier League game this season, while creating 12 chances, more than any other player in any Premier League in history, and just one less than Manchester United as a team have created in May. Additionally, with his two goals, Sanchez has now been involved in 33 goals in the Premier League this season (23 goals and 10 assists), more than every other player.

Next: Arsenal Vs Sunderland: Player ratings

Arsenal are entering a summer transfer window where their two most established and accomplished stars have just one year remaining on their contracts. Keeping them at the club is a duty of the utmost importance, because, without them, I fear what will happen to this team.