Ozil overshadows Sanchez, Arsenal knocks Man Utd out of top 4

Arsenal stumbled in the London derby against Tottenham last weekend, but their victory in the early match of round 25 of the Premier League yesterday was not too surprising.

Leicester are also in the midst of a crisis and have been stuck at the bottom of the table since before Christmas. Perhaps the surprise came from the small 2-1 margin that Arsenal created against the visitors, despite their impressive start and better performance throughout the match.

Yesterday's game saw Arsenal welcome back Alexis Sanchez after a two-week absence with a hamstring injury. But the Chilean superstar was completely overshadowed by Mesut Ozil, who played one of his best games since joining Arsenal for a club record fee in the summer of 2013.

Ozil set up Koscielny (right) to open the scoring and indirectly created an opportunity for Walcott to double the gap. Photo: Reuters.

In his 50th start for Arsenal, Ozil impressed with an 88% passing accuracy and was the nucleus of most of the Emirates team's attacks. In the 26th minute, the former Real player cleared the way for Walcott to shoot, forcing the Leicester goalkeeper to push the ball out. And from the next corner kick, Ozil himself took the ball, crossing for center-back Laurent Koscielny to comfortably finish with his right foot from the center of the penalty area, opening the score.

In the 41st minute, Ozil again made a strong mark on the goal that doubled Arsenal's advantage, although his name continued to not appear on the scoreboard. This $68 million midfielder unleashed a powerful long-range shot that goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer could not hold onto, allowing Theo Walcott to swoop in and shoot, raising the score to 2-0.

Sanchez, in the entire first half, had only one shot blocked and it seemed that he had not yet regained his best feeling for the ball. Therefore, coach Wenger had to take the Chilean star off the field in the 68th minute to make room for striker Giroud.

Alexis has yet to hit the ground running after recovering from injury. Photo: PA.

Leicester, who were desperately trying to avoid relegation, also had some hope in the second half, especially after Kramaric reduced the score to 1-2 with a low shot through a forest of legs in the 61st minute. However, those glimmers of hope for the visitors were crushed by their star player Ryad Mahrez with a series of sloppy finishes. Kramaric himself also had a late miss, when he chipped the ball too lightly straight at Arsenal goalkeeper Ospina.

With this victory, Arsenal jumped two places above Tottenham, who lost 2-3 to Liverpool, and Man Utd, who played late, to fourth place with 45 points. However, Wenger's team could very well drop to fifth if Man Utd, who have 44 points, defeat Burnley in today's series of matches.

According to VNE