RESURGENT Arsenal romped to a 5-2 victory at capital rivals West Ham United in Saturday’s Premier League derby with all seven goals coming in a mind-boggling first half in the evening kickoff at the London Stadium.
Gabriel’s trademark ninth-minute header opened the floodgates and Arsenal ran riot, with Leandro Trossard tapping in after 26 minutes before Martin Odegaard’s penalty and Kai Havertz’s cool finish in the space of a minute sent some home fans heading for the exits.
Incredibly, West Ham responded almost immediately with Aaron Wan-Bissaka slotting home before a stunning free kick by Emerson offered hope of an unlikely comeback.
But Arsenal were awarded a second penalty of the game in first-half stoppage and this time Bukayo Saka stepped up to dispatch his spot kick past Lukasz Fabianski.
By comparison the second half was something of an anti-climax as Arsenal cruised to the win that moved them up to second in the table with 25 points, six behind leaders Liverpool who host struggling champions Manchester City on Sunday.
Arsenal have now scored 13 goals in their last three games as they return to form in spectacular fashion after a slump which had some writing off their title chances.
“I was happier with the first 30 minutes rather than the last 15 minutes of the first half that’s for sure,“ said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whose side beat Sporting 5-1 away in the Champions League this week.
“We started incredibly well, so positive, so much energy and a lot of quality. Immediately after we scored the fourth we conceded a sloppy one and an unbelievable free kick and then it was game on. Thank goodness we scored the fifth and we were able to manage the game in the second half.”
CRUISE CONTROL
For the second season running Arsenal went to West Ham and dished out a humiliation. Last year they won 6-0 and the way they began on Saturday they looked like surpassing that.
As it was, all the fireworks arrived before halftime and they ended in cruise control with West Ham’s Danny Ings even going close to salvaging some more home pride late on.
It was only the fourth time in a Premier League match that seven goals had been scored in the first period, the last occasion being Reading against Manchester United in 2012.
While Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was purring at his side’s display, West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui, who was forced to watch from the stands because of a touchline ban, is back under pressure after having appeared to turn the corner with his side’s win at Newcastle United on Monday.
West Ham are 14th in the table and have now lost four times at home in the league this season under the Spaniard, who replaced David Moyes in May.
Lopetegui would surely have told his players about the threat from Gabriel at set pieces but they clearly were not heeding when he met Saka’s corner with a deft header.
Arsenal oozed confidence early on and their second goal was a masterclass as Saka and Odegaard combined to tee up Trossard for a close-range finish.
A slaloming Saka was then taken down in the area and Odegaard made it 3-0 before a sublime pass from Trossard sent Havertz clear to beat Fabianski with a clinical finish.
The game was as good as over and, despite a brief retaliation, West Ham were never really in it. When Fabianski came out to punch a corner but connected with Gabriel instead, Saka slotted in the penalty to restore order for the visitors.
