Watford, October 18

Alexis Sanchez continued his remarkable scoring streak as Arsenal regained second place in the Premier League table with a 3-0 victory at Watford on Saturday.

The Chile forward opened the scoring in the 62nd minute to record his seventh goal in his last four Arsenal outings. The 26-year-old also scored once for his country against Brazil and twice against Peru in 2018 World Cup qualifying, bringing his total since September 26 to 10 goals in just six games.

READ ALSO

Arsenal show attacking prowess to destroy Watford

Arsenal applied early pressure and Watford goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes made a smart stop low down after Theo Walcott had met Aaron Ramsey’s cross from the right with a cushioned header. Sanchez, back from a profitable if lengthy trip to South America to represent Chile, was next to have a go, cutting in from the left and unleashing from outside the box, but again Gomes was able to save.

Watford responded with a fierce long-range drive from Troy Deeney that Petr Cech did well to beat away. Arsenal almost opened the scoring in the 28th minute when a delightful ball to the back post from Sanchez picked out Ramsey’s run, only for the Wales midfielder to volley over.

There was also a close call in visitors’ penalty area, when Odion Ighalo shot wide under pressure from Nacho Monreal, who was adjudged not to have fouled the Nigerian by referee Mike Jones.

Arsenal opened the scoring through Sanchez. Jones might have awarded Arsenal a penalty when Mesut Ozil was upended by Nathan Ake, but Sanchez, who had been involved in the build-up, put the loose ball in off a post in a flash. The disappointing Theo Walcott was substituted straight after and his replacement, Giroud, doubled the lead in the 68th minute.

Ramsey’s ball took a deflection off a defender and Ozil’s pull-back from the byline on the right was dispatched high into the net by the France forward.

Ramsey was rewarded for his endeavour with a goal in 74th minute, beating Gomes with a deflected shot after Hector Bellerin had burst into the box. Sanchez, Giroud each threatened to swell Arsenal’s lead, but a fourth goal would have been cruel on Watford.

On Saturday, goals rained in for Manchester City and United. Raheem Sterling’s hat-trick and a Wilfried Bony double helped leaders City to a 5-1 win against Bournemouth, while a few miles down the motorway United thumped Everton 3-0 with Wayne Rooney scoring his first away league goal for 11 months.

City have a two-point lead over United and Arsenal, who moved up to second with a 3-0 win at Watford. West Ham United, who won 3-1 at Crystal Palace, are a further two points adrift.

Jose Mourinho’s troubled start to the season took an upturn as Chelsea steadied the ship with a 2-0 home win against struggling Aston Villa, although they were helped by a goalkeeping error from Brad Guzan and Alan Hutton’s own goal.

High-flying West Ham notched a fourth away win this season, Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet scoring late in a 3-1 victory at Crystal Palace, who played half the match with 10 men after Dwight Gayle was red-carded just before the break.

West Ham’s former manager Sam Allardyce’s first game in charge of Sunderland ended in a 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, leaving them second from bottom. Mid-table Southampton led 2-0 against Leicester City but were pegged back to draw 2-2 Jamie Vardy getting visitors’ first goal to top the scoring charts with nine.