Arsenal vs. Hull City: Score and Reaction from 2017 Premier League Match

Arsenal put a nightmare fortnight behind them and got back to Premier League winning ways on Saturday, defeating a resurgent Hull City side 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium. 

The Gunners looked in something of a hole after back-to-back defeats against Watford and Chelsea, but Alexis Sanchez's brace gave Arsenal fans a welcome sigh of relief.

The Chilean opened the scoring in controversial fashion in the first half before converting from the penalty spot late on after Sam Clucas was adjudged to have handled on the line and was given his marching orders.

Three points takes Arsene Wenger's men temporarily up to third place in the table and nine points back of runaway leaders Chelsea.

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Hull City came to the Emirates off the back of a fantastic 2-0 victory over Liverpool and a 0-0 draw against Manchester United, and they started Saturday's game looking like they were in the mood to take another scalp.

Lazar Markovic—who was a constant thorn in Arsenal's side—came close to carving out an opening for the visitors within the first eight minutes of the contest as the Gunners switched off.

After leaving Alex Iwobi and Kieran Gibbs for dead, the Serb squared the ball dangerously across the box for Oumar Niasse, but he was just on his heels and couldn't provide the decisive touch.

NBC Sports' Joe Prince-Wright commented that Niasse really should have been in the right place to tap home but didn't make the right move:

As if that wasn't enough warning for Arsenal, Hull again went close five minutes later through Niasse, who headed Kamil Grosicki's cross towards the top corner, only for Cech to force the ball behind.

That succession of scares succeeded in bringing the Gunners out of their slumber, however, as they set about creating some chances of their own.

Hector Bellerin, Mesut Ozil and Sanchez all went close as the hosts finally started to click into gear. It seemed only a matter of time before Arsenal made the breakthrough, but when they did on 33 minutes, it was in highly controversial circumstances.

After Gibbs' left-footed shot was cleared off the line by Andrew Robertson, Sanchez was on hand to bundle the ball home; the final touch, however, appeared to come off the forward's hand.

The Gunners came out for the second half needing another goal to cement their dominance in the match. But given their recent form, the atmosphere was forever dwindling and players were starting to look shaky.

Hull, meanwhile, started the second period as they did the first and almost forced an equaliser on 55 minutes.

Markovic again did brilliantly to leave Laurent Koscielny for dead on the halfway line before crossing for Niasse, but his thundering shot was smartly saved again by Cech.

Worrying gaps were once again starting to appear in the Arsenal back line, and ESPN's Mattias Karen questioned why Niasse was left so wide open in front of goal:

Hull continued to make a good account of themselves as the minutes ticked by, with Markovic and Niasse both giving the Gunners a fright, but they just couldn't make the breakthrough.

You'd expect a team of Hull's stature to come to the Emirates and sit behind the ball, but they were dominating possession and restricting Arsenal to half chances.

That was until the dying embers of the match, as the Gunners caught Hull on the break and won a penalty. Eldin Jakupovic came racing off his line to try to thwart Sanchez, but when he skipped past him and looked for Lucas Perez in the middle, the Tigers were in trouble.

The Spaniard headed the ball goalwards, only for Clucas to keep it out with his hand. The 26-year-old was given a straight red card for his troubles.

Sanchez duly stepped up to make the points safe at the Emirates:

Even so, they say winning ugly is the sign of champions, and Arsenal will be delighted just to chalk up another three points and get their season back on track.

The Tigers will feel hard done by that they tasted defeat in such controversial circumstances, but the signs are there that Marco Silva is turning things around.

The Gunners now face the daunting task of travelling to the Allianz Arena to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League before taking on Sutton United in the FA Cup.

Reaction

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Following the match, Arsenal manager Wenger told Sky Sports that his players coped well with the poor atmosphere inside the Emirates, but he conceded that luck was on their side, per BBC Sport:

"

I felt we were resilient, focused. It was not easy against a good side. There was an edgy atmosphere but as a player you have to cope with that. Maybe [Arsenal had good fortune in the win]. Sorry for that but I cannot influence that. Our job is not to focus too much on what is said and focus on what we are responsible - the performance on the pitch.

"

When further quizzed about his side's fortune, he said that it was a case of swings and roundabouts for the Gunners, via ESPN's Miguel Delaney:

On the other side of the camp, Silva said during his interview with Sky Sports that the scoreline didn't reflect the nature of the game and cursed his side's luck: "2-0 is not the story of the game. We didn't start well in the first half. We lost some balls in important zones. They scored one goal handball. We make mistakes, sometimes the referee make mistakes too. We don't have a good day but that is football."