Alexis Sanchez signed off on a magnificent maiden campaign at Arsenal with a wonder goal in the 4-0 FA Cup final rout of Aston Villa.
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The Gunners were already leading 1-0 when Alexis all but decided the contest with a stunning goal on 50 minutes.
The South American made the most of the window of opportunity afforded him by Nacho Monreal’s decoy run and sent a delightful swerving effort past Shay Given, who was given little chance despite Sanchez’s effort coming from some way out.
The shot hammered in off the crossbar, giving Arsenal a firm strangle-hold on the contest, and making Sanchez only the second-ever Chilean to score in the FA Cup final.
The effort certainly holds its own among the finest goals scored in the competition’s showpiece over the years.
While goals from Theo Walcott, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud ensured a convincing 4-0 victory, giving Arsenal a record 12th FA Cup victory, it was Sanchez’s effort which will be remembered long into the future.
The forward delivered a magnificent performance, which encapsulated many of the qualities that have made him such a success in his first campaign in the Premier League.
The attacker was signed by Arsenal in July for a fee of £35 million (Via BBC) as Arsene Wenger attempted to add more firepower and creativity into his forward line.
Following the muted contribution of Mesut Ozil during the 2013-14 season, there were no guarantees that the Chilean would immediately take to the Premier League after leaving La Liga.
However, after finding his feet during August, he began to repay the coach’s faith with three goals in three games—finding the net against Besiktas, Leicester City and Manchester City.
He truly found his stride during the autumn, contributing a goal and an assist against both Galatasaray and Hull City.
The ex-Udinese man also bagged six goals in four games during a magnificent spell some weeks later, and made pertinent contributions throughout the campaign as the Gunners registered a third-place finish in the EPL.
Particularly memorable was Alexis’s contribution to Arsenal’s 4-1 demolition of Liverpool in April.
The forward also scored the decisive goal-albeit with a little help from Adam Federici-in the FA Cup semi-final to see off Reading.
He also demonstrated his versatility, becoming a very useful and malleable weapon for Wenger. Why typically-as he did against Villa-he has started matches on the left side in the coach’s 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation, he has also proved adept when functioning as the centre, as a striker, or even on the right flank.
While Sanchez will doubtless look back proudly on a successful campaign—with 24 goals and nine assists in 40 Arsenal outings to date—his stunning strike against Villa is surely the icing on the cake!
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