Theo Walcott scored twice as Arsenal beat FC Basel 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in Group A of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
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Both of Arsenal’s goals arrived via Walcott in the opening 30 minutes as the English winger now has four goals in his last three games for the Gunners.
In truth Arsene Wenger’s side eased to victory against a Basel side who were simply overwhelmed. Arsenal now has four points from their opening two games of Group A play in the UCL, sitting top of the group but level on points with Paris Saint-Germain.
[ MORE: Full UCL scoreboard ]
Arsenal opened the scoring in the seventh minute as Alexis Sanchez’s perfect cross from the left found Walcott in the box and the Englishman continued his rich vein of form as he headed home brilliantly. 1-0.
The Gunners continued to pour forward and Walcott was simply unstoppable as he once again combined with Sanchez to grab his and Arsenal’s second.
Walcott played it into Sanchez and after a quick one-two he drilled home into the far corner. 2-0 after 27 minutes.
Walcott again! His second of the night makes it 2-0, Arsenal. #UCLonFOX https://t.co/97KKzQmpoA
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 28, 2016
The Gunners continued to dominate for the rest of the first half as Basel just couldn’t deal with the movement of Arsenal’s forward line as Mesut Ozil dinked just wide.
Arsenal started the second half brightly too, with Alex Iwobi toe poking a shot just wide.
In the 62nd minute Basel had their first real chance of the game as Birkir Bjarnason struck a vicious curling shot from distance which Ospina tipped over. The Icelandic midfielder had another good chance soon after but lashed his effort way over when found free at the back post.
Walcott then played the role of provider with just over 20 minutes to go and pulled the ball back for Sanchez but somehow the Chilean forward slotted his effort wide.
In the closing stages Wenger’s men controlled the game and went closes through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sanchez but in the end they eased to victory and remain unbeaten in Group A.