West Ham 0 Arsenal 6
The Gunners headed to the London Stadium for a derby with West Ham, a side who had beaten them twice already this season. After their statement win last weekend against Liverpool, Arteta’s side knew they needed to show some consistency to stay in the title race.
David Moyes’ side were unbeaten at home since the end of October, but they were still looking for their first win since that victory at The Emirates. The West Ham manager was under pressure with fans questioning whether his time with the club was at an end.
Declan Rice returned to the ground where he had enjoyed so much of his career but today, he was going to do all that he could to burst their bubbles. Trossard started as the main striker for Arsenal with Gabriel Jesus having another problem with his troublesome knees.
Saka got an early cross in, picking out the Belgian striker perfectly but he could not keep his header down as it sailed over the crossbar. Martinelli was the next player to set Trossard up but his volley was brilliantly turned over the bar by Areola.
Credit: @Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s side forced a corner and as the ball came into the back post, Saliba had a completely free header to give the visitors the lead. It was terrible defending by West Ham as they all stood like they were playing musical statues and nobody could hear any tunes.
Odegaard then showed some great feet before slotting in Saka. He dinked the ball over the advancing Areola but his effort went agonisingly wide of the far post. So close to The Gunners doubling their lead.
They did not have to wait long for their next chance as Saka was sent clean through on goal. As he took it around The Hammers’ keeper, he clipped the winger who needs no invitation to go down. The referee immediately pointed to the spot and the VAR review confirmed the decision.
Bukayo Saka stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to score his fiftieth goal for the club and become the youngest player to do since Frank Stapleton. The Gunners’ fans in the away end were loving their short trip across the capital.
David Moyes’ side completely folded at this point. Rice swung in a free kick and Gabriel headed home unchallenged as things went from bad to worse for the hosts. Fans started to leave the London Stadium as they had seen enough.
Odegaard then found Trossard, who checked onto his right foot and sent his shot rifling into the top corner to make it three goals in six minutes for the visitors. The boos started to ring out from the home end as they voiced their anger.
Credit: @Arsenal
It was all too easy for The Gunners after the break as they continued to play their football and West Ham couldn’t stop them. Saka and Trossard exchanged a neat one-two before the winger fired a shot off at goal which was parried out by the West Ham keeper.
Odegaard spotted the run of Saka and played it into his path. He stepped to the side of the defender and drilled his shot into the bottom corner with Areola rooted to the spot. This was beginning to get embarrassing for the hosts.
White had the ball in the box and looked to lay it off to the edge of the box. Odegaard and Trossard both left it to each other and the ball ran through to Rice who struck a first-time shot into the top corner of the goal. The former Hammer refused to celebrate out of respect for his old team.
This was West Ham’s heaviest home defeat for 61 years and Moyes was starting to look like he had been there to see it. The manager looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. The only saving grace was there were barely any fans left in the stadium to boo him at full time.
It was an impressive display from Mikel Arteta’s side who answered their critics that they do not have the consistency to keep pace with Man City and Liverpool. The Gunners are in a rich vein of form and their fans will be hoping long may it continue.
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