Arsenal got revenge on West Ham by hitting them for six in their own stadium on an astonishing afternoon for Mikel Arteta and his side.
Changes were made from the brilliant victory over Liverpool the previous weekend. With that day’s player of the match Jorginho picking up a slight knock during the week. Gabriel Jesus remained absent, and Jakub Kiwior started at left-back with Oleksandr Zinchenko missing following his knock against the league leaders. Leandro TrossSd led the line with Kai Havertz dropping back into the left hand side of the midfield. Declan Rice started as the holding midfielder against his former club.
Despite the changes, Arsenal started well, and almost took the lead when Trossard hit a strong volleyed effort at Areola who met his strike with a fine save. The Gunners continued to pressure the West Ham goal in the opening stages and were dominating possession, and they got their reward for a strong start as a corner from Rice was met powerfully by William Saliba who’s header found the far corner to give Arsenal the lead their opening 30 minutes deserved.
It didn’t take too long for Mikel Arteta’s team to double their lead, as a through ball from Trossard saw Bukayo Saka through on goal, the winger tried to go round the West Ham keeper and was caught. Saka took the resulting penalty – at the ground where he missed from 12 yards last season- and this time empathetically struck the ball into the net to put Arsenal comfortably in command at 0-2 in the latter stages of the first period and claim his 50th goal for Arsenal in the process
But Mikel Arteta’s side weren’t done there, and they got their third when Gabriel headed in from a Rice three-kick. The second set-piece goal of the game for Arsenal with Rice being the architect from both. The Brazilian defender is enjoying a fine goalscoring run of late. With this srrtike being his fourth since December. And they would get one more before the break when Martin Odegaard found Trossard who curled a great strike into the far corner to make it 4-0 in an incredible first half for Arsenal.
The second half begun with a lot more empty seats than when the first started, as many West Ham fans had opted to leave such was the extent of Arsenal’s lead and dominance.
And if the home supporters thought their team would react to the thrashing they received in the opening half, they would be proved wrong as Saka danced into the West Ham penalty area and smashed the ball into the near bottom corner for 5-0. But it would get even worse for David Moyes and the Hammers, as just three minutes later Declan Rice latched onto a loose ball 25 yards from goal and smashed it first time onto the top corner. It was a fantastic strike to crown a quite remarkable afternoon for Arsenal.
The final 25 minutes were managed well, and 16 year-old Ethan Nwaneri also found himself getting his second taste of Premier League football and his first of this season.
The win makes it four in a row in the Premier League as Arsenal prepare for their latest test away to Vincent Kompany’s Burnley.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 7 – Had very little to do but dealt well when called into action
Ben White: 8 – Quietly excellent. Found himself inverting quite a lot as well
William Saliba: 8 – The Frenchman has struggled a bit recently but was back to his best today and got his 2nd goal of the season
Gabriel: 8 – Another goal for Arsenal’s Brazilian beast
Jakub Kiwior: 7 – Carried on from his strong 2nd half performance vs Liverpool. Was very solid and composed
Declan Rice: 10 – Had a perfect return to Stratford. A goal and two assists and dominated the midfield
Kai Havertz: 8 – A really good midfield performance. Movement and passing was very good
Martin Odegaard: 10 – A master at work. Two assists but his performance was so much more than numbers. Was mesmerising at times
Bukayo Saka: 9 – Two goals to take Arsenal’s starboy to double figures for the season
Leandro Trossard: 8 – Scored a great goal and helped create the 2nd with a fantastic pass
Gabriel Martinelli: 7 – Wasn’t as involved as his fellow attackers but was still solid and worked very hard