Alexis Sanchez has revealed that he is wracked by guilt whenever he fails to find the net in an Arsenal match.
The 27-year-old endured one of his worst spells in front of goal over recent weeks, having managed one goal over nine games following his return from the longest injury absence of his European club career.
That ended in emphatic style on Saturday when Sanchez scored a crucial equaliser for the ten men of Arsenal as they recovered to claim a 2-2 draw away to Tottenham. The goal, only his second of 2016, may have been down to a fortuitous Hugo Lloris but that didn’t stop the Chilean celebrating wildly having dragged his side back into the contest.
And the goal perhaps meant that Sanchez could enjoy a less fitful night’s sleep, as he explained to the club website.
“I always want to improve and give my absolute all to the team,” he said.
“The truth is that I do enjoy [the responsibility]. When I don't score goals I feel like I've failed the team and I feel guilty.
“I go home, can't sleep and I just think I have to play better.”
After earning the club’s player of the season accolade and topping Arsenal’s scoring charts in his debut campaign in English football Sanchez has endured something of a sophomore slump in his second season.
Over 30 games in all competitions Sanchez has 11 goals, 14 less than he managed in 2014/15.
However Sanchez has proven something of a streaky scorer in the past and, with the Premier League title still an outside possibility, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will hope his star forward can replicate the six-game scoring streak he enjoyed in all competitions in September and October last year.
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