Arsenal 2 Hull City 0: Alexis Sanchez double steers Arsenal to victory over Hull

A double from Alexis Sanchez saw Arsenal seal a crucial home win over Hull in a largely forgettable Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Sanchez opened the scoring with a controversial effort that came off his hand and wrapped up the points with an injury-time penalty after Sam Clucas was sent off for handling a Lucas Perez header on the line.

With Arsenal having lost at home to Watford and slipped to defeat at Chelsea in their last two outings, a minority of fans once again turned on manager Arsene Wenger.

But, with the Frenchman in the stands as he served the last game of his four-match touchline ban, his side returned to winning ways.

The victory just about keeps the Gunners in the title picture and means they retain their spot in the top four ahead of the Champions League trip to Bayern Munich in midweek.

Some Arsenal fans stayed away from the game as a form of protest, and their side were not at their best against Marco Silva's spirited Hull.

Liverpool loanee Lazar Markovic danced through into the Arsenal box early on but his low cross just evaded the onrushing Oumar Niasse.

Petr Cech was called into action soon after as a long ball to Kamil Grosicki caught out the Arsenal defence and the Poland international crossed for Niasse, who header was pushed behind.

The home side missed two guilt-edged chances to take the lead as Hector Bellerin shot into the side-netting and Sanchez pulled a shot wide from in front of goal.

Arsenal were beginning to dominate possession but were finding it difficult to break down Hull, with Ozil volleying high and wide at the midway point of the first half.

But the hosts took the lead in controversial fashion just after the half-hour mark as Kieran Gibbs saw his shot blocked on the line by Andrew Robertson before a Sanchez effort was saved by Eldin Jakupovic and the ball bounced off the hand of the Chilean and in.

Hull's players appealed for handball but the goal was allowed to stand despite referee Mark Clattenburg discussing the incident with his assistant.

Cech was again required at the start of the second half as Markovic outpaced Laurent Koscielny down the flank and crossed for Niasse to test the former Chelsea man once more.

Theo Walcott was booked by Clattenburg early in the second half, with Gibbs fortuitous to only be cautioned moments later as he charged into the back of Markovic who was advancing on the Arsenal goal.

Sanchez was booked for simulation having twice been upended by Hull's defence before the busy Niasse sent a near-post header into the side-netting as the Tigers looked to take a share of the spoils.

Wenger threw on Danny Welbeck and Perez in the latter stages in an attempt to make the victory more comfortable, and when Perez was denied by a Clucas handball Sanchez settled the contest from the resulting penalty.