Arsenal ended Leicester’s unbeaten start to the season with a barnstorming 5-2 victory at the King Power Stadium on Saturday thanks to a sensational hat-trick from Alexis Sanchez.
The home side drew first blood inside a quarter of an hour when Jamie Vardy continued his splendid form by finishing emphatically after a quick breakaway.
Theo Walcott restored parity for the visitors soon after, latching on to a perfectly weighted pass from Santi Cazorla and coolly converting to make it 12 goals in his last 13 starts for the striker.
From that moment on, it was Alexis who stole the show, gleefully accepting a tap-in following a Hector Bellerin cross which eluded its intended target in Walcott before falling to the unmarked winger who could not miss.
His second came when he rose highest to meet Mesut Ozil’s inviting chip, glancing his header past the oncoming Kasper Schmeichel to extend the Gunners’ lead.
Alexis’ third and Arsenal’s fourth ended any hopes the Foxes had of mounting one of their trademark comebacks when he unleashed a stinging long-range effort which found the bottom corner, as he celebrated his first hat-trick for the club and the first by a Chilean in England’s top flight.
Vardy netted a consolation goal taking his season tally to six, making him the league’s outright top scorer, before substitute Olivier Giroud rounded off a superb afternoon for Arsene Wenger’s side by slotting home their fifth, the first time they have achieved that goalscoring feat away from home since 2012.
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