LONDON: Manager Arsene Wenger says he cannot guarantee that striker Alexis Sanchez will remain at Arsenal long term, after the forward scored twice in the victory at Crystal Palace on Thursday.
The Chile striker can leave for free this summer when his contract expires and he has been linked with a move to league leaders Manchester City, who failed in their bid to sign him on deadline day.
When asked about the 29-year-old’s future, the Frenchman said, “Nobody knows what will happen. It’s difficult to speculate.
“They are questioned, always, when people don’t have long contracts. The best way to show they are committed is to give that kind of performance,” he added.
His comments come only a month after he said that both Sanchez and German midfielder Mesut Ozil, whose current deal also expires in the summer, want to stay at the Emirates Stadium.
On Thursday, Sanchez struck twice in four minutes after Andros Townsend had cancelled out Shkodran Mustafi’s first-half opener.
The forward squeezed a clinical strike in at the near post to make it 2-1 before bringing Jack Wilshere’s superb ball from his own half under control and flicking into the net.
James Tomkins headed in late on but Sanchez’s double was enough to secure a win that keeps sixth-placed Arsenal level on points with Tottenham, who are fifth, and one point behind fourth-placed Liverpool.
After three draws and just one win from their four previous Premier League outings, this was arguably an important game for the Gunners in their bid to remain in the hunt for a top-four finish, especially after wins for rivals Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea in midweek.
They started the day with six points fewer than they had at the same stage last season – and Wenger’s side ultimately finished outside the Champions League places – so a positive result and performance was needed to help ease any Arsenal fans’ concerns their campaign was in danger of fizzling out.
For large periods, the performance was certainly there. The visitors often produced some of their best attacking play of the season, particularly in the first half when Palace could not cope with short, intricate passing that time and again opened up the defence.
But their inability to finish off the many opportunities they created meant their opponents always had a chance to get back into the game. That proved the case early in the second half when Zaha’s cross caught Arsenal’s defence asleep and Townsend struck.
A five-minute spell of Arsenal disarray followed and the Gunners could easily have found themselves falling behind, but Sanchez – so often Arsenal’s saviour – settled the nerves with two moments of quality.
But even with a two-goal cushion Arsenal were never at ease, and Wenger’s concern about his side’s defensive frailties was highlighted by his decision to replace striker Lacazette with Francis Coquelin late on. That was still not enough to prevent Palace from reducing the deficit to one, setting up a tense finale.
“It was an excellent game, end to end, but you just cannot be convinced by Arsenal,” former Gunners and Crystal Palace defender Matt Upson, commentating on the game for BBC Radio 5 live, said.
“At times, some of their passing and movement was mesmerising, just brilliant – but at the other end you see their vulnerabilities and frailties and why they are sitting sixth in the league,” he added.
It has been a strange old season for Crystal Palace.
They set an English football record by losing their first seven league games of the season without scoring a goal, but went into the Arsenal fixture unbeaten in eight matches – their longest such run in the top flight since 1990 and one which had moved them out of the relegation zone and into 16th.
The appointment of Roy Hodgson as manager has played a key role in that turnaround, but so too have the performances of Zaha.
The Ivory Coast forward has been in exceptional form since returning from injury in October and it was his trickery and intuition that allowed Palace to get back on level terms, jinking his way past Calum Chambers before crossing low behind a static defence for Townsend to slam home.
Only Jason Puncheon (32) and Chris Armstrong (31) have been involved in more Premier League goals for the Eagles than Zaha (30), underlining his importance to the team.
The ex-Manchester United player’s form has seen him linked with a move away in January and his departure would undoubtedly be a blow for Palace.
However, they showed in this game – and in recent displays – that they have enough quality elsewhere in their squad to be able continue their progress away from danger.
“At 1-1 I thought we were playing well and we were on the front foot, but the second goal was so difficult – to go down 2-1 was a difficult task,” Hodgson said.
“You have to give the players credit. At 3-1 a lot of teams would have capitulated, but we certainly didn’t do that. Our second goal was scant reward for the chances we had in the second half – but we were beaten by the better team on the day,” he added.
