Alexis Sanchez came to life in the second half against Brighton.

The Chilean had a quiet first half in the 2-0 victory over Brighton, but provided much of Arsenal’s creativity in the second.

This is best illustrated by Alexis’ match statistics.

According to WhoScored, he managed just two shots, one key pass and one dribble in the first half. However, in the second half he registered six shots, five key passes, three dribbles and an assist.

This may have been down to two factors. One is that Alexis started to roam more in the second half, often appearing on the right hand side of the attack as well as his usual left-sided berth. The other is that Arsenal controlled the game in Brighton’s half during the second period and were able to get the ball to Alexis more often.

The highlight of his performance was, of course, his back-heel assist for Alex Iwobi.

Alexis’ movement in the penalty area attracted multiple defenders to him, and he had the presence of mind to find Iwobi behind him. It’s this level of ingenuity that Arsenal will find difficult to replace if and when Alexis leaves the club.

Alexis, though, is still searching for his first league goal of the season.

No player took more shots than him on the day, but of his eight shots, only three hit the target. His tendency to take low-percentage shots from distance is the one of the more frustrating aspects of his game, and so it proved again against Brighton.