A first half goal fest saw Arsenal take three points from the London Stadium to move 2nd in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta made two changes from the side that impressively won 1-5 away at Sporting CP. With Jorginho coming into the midfield in place of the injured Thomas Partey. And Leandro Trossard starting in the left-hand side of the attack in place of Gabriel Martinelli
The Arsenal manager’s team raced into a 0-4 lead against the home side within the first 35 minutes, with the first coming through a header from Gabriel, the Brazilian scoring for the second game running after heading into the net in Lisbon as Arsenal continued their fine set-piece scoring record.
The Gunners second though was vintage Arsenal, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard combined with a superb one-two before the former squared the ball to Trossard to tap-in to double the lead. And two was soon three as Saka was again involved, and this time was brought down by Lukas Paqueta in the West Ham box and Odegaard stepped up to finish into the corner for his first Premier League goal of the season.
And Arsenal wasted no time in scoring again, as just minutes later a inch-perfect ball from Trossard set Kai Havertz through on goal, and the German made no mistake to finish cooly past ex-Gunner Lukasz Fabianski to make it 0-4 and put the game out of sight before half-time.
However two quick goals from West Ham, including a free-kick from Emerson, made things interesting as the half came to a close, however Arsenal were awarded a second penalty after Gabriel was punched in the head by Fabianski following a corner, and the spotkick was converted to make it 2-5 in a simply action-packed first half.
The second half failed to live up to the action of the first, with the best chance coming for West Ham substitute Danny Ings as he missed the target from a tight angle after rounding Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. As Arsenal aimed to control the game and protect the lead they had.
The win moves Arsenal into second on 25 points, whilst West Ham find themselves in 14th, with just four wins from the season so far.
Player Ratings:
David Raya: 7 – Could do nothing about the goals, distribution was on point
Jurrien Timber: 7 – Solid defensievely and going forwards
William Saliba: 7 – Solid as usual
Gabriel: 8 – Forced off at half-time but added another goal
Riccardo Calafiori: 7 – Good in possession but perhaps was asleep for the West Ham first
Jorginho: 8 – Superb on his return to the team
Declan Rice: 7 – Solid on his return to West Ham
Martin Odegaard: 8 – At the heart of another great Arsenal performance, back on the scoresheet too
Bukayo Saka: 9 – A masterclass from Arsenal’s no.7 with two assists and a goal
Kai Havertz: 8 – Another goal for Arsenal’s German forward
Leandro Trossard: 8 – The Belgian’s best Arsenal game in a long time with a goal and a great assist