Having thrashed Sporting CP 5-1 in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, it was back to Premier League action and more of the same. All seven goals in the game came in a chaotic first half, with Gabriel Magalhães, Leandro Trossard, Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka finding the net for the Gunners.
West Ham briefly showed some fight with goals from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson, but Julen Lopetegui’s men slumped to their fourth home league defeat of the season.
It was a bright start from the visitors, with the familiar sight of Gabriel heading in a Saka corner to give Arsenal the lead. Since the start of last season, Arsenal’s 20 goals from corners and Gabriel’s five from corners are both the most by a team and a single player in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta’s men had the Hammers penned in and a moment of class doubled their lead inside the first half hour when Ødegaard clipped a lovely ball into the path of Saka, who unselfishly squared for Trossard to tap in at the far post.
Ødegaard converted a penalty after Saka was felled in the box to make it three, before Havertz ran onto a long pass from Trossard to score with ease after Max Kilman misjudged the flight of the ball.
West Ham didn’t record their first shot of the game until the 38th minute, but it turned out to be a good one as Wan Bissaka ran onto Carlos Soler’s pass to pull one back and score his second goal in a week.
That was almost immediately followed by Emerson bending in a free-kick off the underside of the bar to bring the deficit back to two, all inside the first 40 minutes.
Lopetegui’s men conceded again from the spot just before half-time though after Lukasz Fabianski inadvertently made contact with Gabriel as he tried to punch a corner clear. The Polish goalkeeper almost kept Saka’s penalty out, but the Gunners went in 5-2 up at the break.
It was only the fourth Premier League game to see seven goals in the first half, but that was the end of the excitement as the second half played out with one team wanting to avoid further punishment and the other happy to see out the win.
Arsenal move up to second ahead of leaders Liverpool’s clash with champions Manchester City on Sunday.
