LONDON (AP) - Alexis Sanchez’s double saw Arsenal return to winning ways in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Hull on Saturday in a game dominated by controversial refereeing decisions.
The first goal came via the hand of Sanchez, as he bundled the ball home from close range 11 minutes before halftime, with officials failing to spot the crucial deflection.
A late penalty sealed the win at the Emirates stadium.
The victory will come as a relief to Arsene Wenger as the Arsenal manager completed his four-game touchline ban, with the Gunners losing its previous two league games and four of its last nine.
“Until we led we created some very good chances,” Wenger said. “In the second half we were playing more not to concede because we knew how vital it was to win today.
“I could not see even from the stand any weakness in Hull, physically they are strong, they are well-organized and good spirit. I’m sorry for Hull but I feel that we had to cope recently with some (refereeing) decisions.”
Arsenal moved up to third.
Hull has been rejuvenated since the appointment of manager Marco Silva in January and produced another impressive display as it outplayed Arsenal for significant periods.
“I’m not happy … Some important decisions were not good for us today,” Silva said.
“I think Arsenal started well, better than us, but after we started to play our game we counterattacked well and caused problems for Arsenal. But the story is they scored an illegal goal.”
Sanchez’s first goal was far from the best of his sparkling season, but may go down as one of the most important.
Mesut Ozil’s cross was cleared to the feet of Kieran Gibbs, and the left back’s shot was sent off the line by Andrew Robertson before Sanchez pounced.
The Chile forward’s initial effort was well saved by Eldin Jakupovic, only for the ball to bounce into the net off Sanchez’s right hand.
The visitors’ disappointment with referee Mark Clattenburg intensified in the 54th when Gibbs was given just a yellow card after bringing down Lazar Markovic when the Hull winger was through on goal.
Petr Cech made two important saves from Oumar Niasse as the dangerous Markovic caused Arsenal problems throughout.
Arsenal rarely threatened in the second half but wrapped up the victory in stoppage time as Sanchez got his 17th league goal of the season. Hull midfielder Sam Clucas was sent off as he kept out Lucas Perez’s goalbound header with his arm, before Sanchez converted to achieve his best ever tally for a Premier League season.
Hull stayed in the relegation zone.
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