ARSENAL'S run of four consecutive away English Premier League defeats finally came to an end with hard-fought 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough,

Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil sealed the victory at Riverside Stadium, bringing some relief for embattled manager Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal is now seven points adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City with a game in hand, while Middlesbrough lies six points from safety.

Sanchez opened the scoring, his 19th Premier League goal of the season - only three fewer than the entire Middlesbrough team going into this game - after a foul by Adam Clayton.

Alvaro Negredo then slotted an equaliser within five minutes to give the struggling Middlesbrough hope of causing an upset and claiming just its fifth win of the campaign.

However, Sanchez was involved again with a cross that was chested down by Aaron Ramsey, leaving Ozil with the opportunity to drill Arsenal back in front from close range.