With a merciless demolition of West Ham, Arsenal achieved their greatest Premier League away victory and closed the gap on leaders Liverpool to just two points.
After overturning a six-goal deficit on a magnificent afternoon at the London Stadium, Mikel Arteta’s team maintains third position but is now only one goal behind second-place Manchester City in terms of goals scored.
Along with an 8-2 loss against Blackburn in 1963–64, it is West Ham’s greatest home Premier League defeat ever. It is also the team’s joint-heaviest defeat in history.
William Saliba, Gabriel, Bukayo Saka, and Leandro Trossard scored goals in an incredible first half that saw the Gunners storm into a 4-0 lead, shocking the home team.
Saka scored his second goal after halftime, waltzing past a motionless Hammers defense, and Declan Rice, playing for his old team, made it 6-0 with a spectacular long-range strike.
Arsenal cruise to stunning victory
Following the celebration of their victory over Liverpool the previous weekend, Arsenal once again proved their title credentials with a standout performance.
It’s their first away league victory since a 7-1 triumph over Aston Villa in December 1935, and it’s also their joint-largest margin of victory.
It took them thirty-two minutes to break the tie when Saliba rose to the top of Rice’s corner at the far post and nodded in from close range.
Up until then, West Ham had maintained a strict defensive stance, but as Arsenal scored three more goals before halftime, they totally lost their composure.
The second came from the penalty spot when goalie Alphonse Areola fouled Saka after he raced on to a ball over the top. This was the England international’s 50th goal for Arsenal; the previous season, he missed from the spot against West Ham.
After Rice’s free kick found Gabriel again at close range to make it 3-0, Trossard curled brilliantly into the top corner in first-half stoppage time.
After the interval, the game slowed down, but Arsenal’s superiority persisted. Saka received a pass from Martin Odegaard inside the area and fired into the near post.
After that, Rice scored an incredible long-range goal for his sixth goal, but the England midfielder chose not to celebrate his second appearance back at his former team following his £100 million summer transfer.
West Ham slump continues
David Moyes will be concerned to see West Ham supporters leaving the London Stadium before halftime, given some fans have been critical of him this season.
After defeating Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates the next month and 3-1 at home in the EFL Cup in November, the Hammers were attempting to defeat the Gunners three times in a single season for the first time in 99 years.
However, the Hammers have lost all seven of their games this calendar year, marking the first time since 1997 that they have started a season without a victory since that December night in north London.
West Ham’s typically unyielding defense collapsed in a terrible 15-minute stretch prior to halftime, and the halftime break failed to elicit any kind of response.
Moyes’s contract is up at the end of the season, so a lackluster showing like this would only make things more questionable.
The Scot will be hopeful that West Ham’s upcoming four games—all against teams that are currently in the bottom seven—will present a chance to turn around their struggling campaign.