Arsenal 2-0 Hull City: 5 talking points

The league matches went missing this week as the Premier League teams started their FA Cup campaign with the third round fixtures.With Tottenham and Liverpool set to play today, most of the top sides in the Premier League got off to winning starts with Manchester City surviving a scare against Sheffield Wednesday, while Manchester United and Chelsea won their ties with relative ease against lower division opponents Yeovil Town and Watford respectively.In the last match of the day, Arsenal faced Hull City at the Emirates in what was a replay of last season’s final. Although Hull did threaten a few times, the Gunners started their title defence by winning the match rather comfortably by a scoreline of 2-0, thanks to strikes from skipper Per Mertesacker and Alexis Sanchez.We take a look at 5 major talking points from the game:

#1 Arsenal have to finish off their chances

Theo Walcott fires wide

Like always, Arsenal were dominant in possession, with about 56% of the ball, and started the game with tempo and created numerous chances early on. Yet frustratingly, they had to wait until Sanchez’s 82nd minute strike to ensure victory despite having numerous opportunities to finish off the game earlier.

Joel Campbell, Sanchez and Theo Walcott all had their chances in the first half, but no one could utilize them. Even though they should be given credit for creating a lot of chances, Campbell’s one-on-one chance especially had to be converted.

Arsenal have been hurt quite a few times even this season for not finishing off their chances and against Hull it seemed like they still haven’t been to resolve the issue. With the FA Cup title defence and league aspirations still very much alive, Arsene Wenger must find a way to get his strikers to finish off the good chances they create.