Arsenal finally broke their four-game losing streak as a visiting team this season, against Middlesbrough on Monday. The Gunners beat the North Yorkshire club 2-1 to keep their chances of fishing in the top-four alive.
Arsenal still lie in sixth position, three points behind Manchester United, and seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City with a game in hand. For Middlesbrough, placed second last in the table, relegation doesn’t seem to be a far-fetched thought. They are six points from safety.
It was an intense first-half battle as both teams looked to score on the counter-attack. However, the Gunners finally got on the scoreboard with Alexis Sanchez striking the ball past the goalkeeper with a fantastic free-kick.
Middlesbrough scored the equaliser in the second-half with Alvaro Negredo netting the ball with a fine assist from Stewart Dowing. But Mesut Ozil made sure that Arsenal secured all three points as he got the job done with a wonderful strike from near the post. This was only Arsenal’s third win in their last nine league games.
Under-pressure Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was a happy man following the win, saying that his team “responded well” to the 3-0 thrashing at Crystal Palace last week. “I think it was not perfect but the commitment and focus was there,” he said. “At 1-1 we found a response and managed to win. It was a big test, Middlesbrough gave everything. It’s one of their last chances to stay in the league.
Wenger is hopeful of Arsenal making the top four. “It is mathematically still alive,” he said. “We knew we needed to win. Now we have a little break with the FA Cup and then we come back again to the league. We have to win every game to have a chance to get in the top four, starting tonight. I think it will make the team a bit more serene.”
Middlesbrough caretaker boss Steve Agnew said, “We are bitterly disappointed with the result but the players gave everything they had. We couldn’t ask more of them. We played on the front foot, put them under pressure. I felt we might get the second goal after Negredo scored. The ball just wouldn’t drop in the box for us. We put them under tremendous pressure.”