This was an emphatic and ultimately comfortable 5-1 away win for Arsenal against West Ham that gets the confidence flowing nicely again and keeps us right in the hunt for the Premier League title. It did not always look that way though as even though the Gunners dominated the game we were not clinical and only went in to halftime with a single goal.
But the creative and finishing ability of Alexis Sanchez eventually told as the Chilean striker capped a fine display with an excellent hat-trick, the third of which was a sublime bit oif trickery to put the West Ham Keeper on the floor before dinking a finish over him.
His second was also pretty special as he showed a fantastic touch to control a fizzed pass and then turn on a sixpence before firing a fierce shot into the corner from a tight angle. The fact that Sanchez also layed the opener on a plate for Ozil toi tap in just shows how much we rely on the striker.
Apart from Arsenal not making the most of our dominace until later on thre only real negative was that we failed to keep a clean sheet although it was a bit unlucky that Payet’s free kick came off the bar perfectly into the path of Andy Carroll.
The other Arsenal goal was a brilliant strike from distance by the excellent Oxlade-Chamberlain who produced one of his best displays in an Arsenal shirt. Xhaka got another 90 minutes under his belt and Gabriel did well at right back so all in all it was a great day for the Gunners who leapfrog Man City and Liverpool to go second.
Bob.
Good win but overall was poor. It took us about 60 mins to finally look compose and comfortable against a really weak West ham team in years. Wake up arsenal. We need to really shapen our game.
Really? Thumbs down? Don’t get me wrong it is a good win but if we want to see ourselves in the same boat with barca, Madrid, dortmund or even the shadow of our 2003 squad, we need to start being sharper, ruthless and most important of all clever in the game. We can’t keep accepting complications and off periods. That’s not a behavior of a super team.
@Gurrosco
We were ruthless in attack, but got frustrated when our shots weren’t hittin the target…My problem is, we give teams too much space, inviting them to come at us. I know it’s the draw in to set up our counters. But do we have to defend so deep?
I gave you a thumbs up. Anyone who watched saw our attack failed to capitalize on so many chances. And West Ham were bad defensively throughout. Glad we finally woke up and got the scoreline this game deserved. Our defense and the Xhaka-Coquelin partnership was great throughout but our activity in the box was lackluster until Alexis took things into his own hands and took care of business.
@RSH
Winston Reid kept the score down for them, all by himself. It could have been worse…Randolph is a solid keeper. He is Ireland’s no1 at the moment. His back 4, with the exception of Winston, let him down though…
Agree. Randolph did make some great saves throughout the match. He was great against United as well.
You sir age the perfect example of how ridiculous arsenal fans are….. Team wins 5-1, nah fam they were poor, average at best. Strong logic there ?????
West Ham defense were in shambles! We could’ve scored 6-7, but I’m happy with the win and 5 goals. Perfect start for December.
Give Sanchez what he wants!
Oh and as of now, we are top scorers in the Premier League! When was the last time that happened at any point during the season?
Our away form is incredible. Feel comfortable playing away than home. Hope we improve our home form.
Sanchez is a god. Glad we have him..
I saw an improved Ox. He had a good game. All we want is consistency. Well done Ox.
Well-done boys..
@uzi Ozil
Heard one of the commentators say we have the best defensive away record in the league. As well as the best away form…
Apart from Sanchez, coquelin was my MOTM. He bossed everything. Luv Xhaka
Home form will be down to the atmosphere around the stadium
Alexis seemed to be having some discomfort, yet still had enough to get a hat trick!
A shout out to the OX as well, who really bossed it today.
Hope Wilshere and co do us a favour tomorrow 😉
COYG!
Ox was a bit hot and cold for me but a huge improvement from recent performances. His final ball is still letting him down too often but that’s a confidence thing as much as anything and performances like today won’t do him any harm.
I don’t need to mention Alexis Baby but I was really impressed by Xhaka’s performance as well!!
Shout out to Monreal and Gabriel! Our fullbacks looked SOLID today!
True that! I actually think everybody except our wingers were up for it today. Though OX was energetic and had a great goal he was a bit wasteful. Walcott however did not put a foot right today..
Just give the guy what he wants and keep him. amazing amazing will to win. Ozil has dropped the ball of late. If anyone has any doubts about his importance just rest him for 2 games and see where we get the goals from.
also slightly worrying from a team perspective that there is no one doing well enough to push for places. No one to play no 10 if we rest Ozil. Giroud probably is a good alternative i the striker position but no-one pushing Walcott and Ox.
Fantastic performance, just what we needed.
Alexis is special, what an incredible display.
The Ox was immense throughout, showed maturity in his decision making that he has often lacked. Bursting at the right time and always looked dangerous.
Xhaka looked comfortable, with him and Coqelin in the middle we look solid, strong and Xhaka also has a great range of passing. This pairing also allows more attacking wingers in Ox and Theo.
Happy gooners and exactly what we need, on the next on to the next….
All about Alexis today
When is it not
Best player we have had since Henry
If he leaves this club is dead
Represents all that’s good about football
Nice win. That pitch seemed huge. The league cup is long forgotten. It will take everyone, like Gabriel filling in today and playing really well, for us to reach the title.
Alexis will deservedly get most of the kudos but what I really loved was Coquelin-Xhaka. And credit Wenger for tweaking it by playing Coquelin in front of Xhaka. That allowed Coquelin to run around breaking up play and Xhaka the time to find some killer passes. Admittindedly West Ham were poor but promising signs.
Sanchez showed that he has learnt a lot from Messi. As a central forward/ attacking midfielder in Arsenal, he has turned into our own Messi!
Chamberlain was not good at the beginning, but became very good after the first 20 minutes. I hope he can learn more from Sanchez. He is very fast and has a good technique, just need to work more on his finishing and passing.
Coquelin and Xhaka bossed the midfield, and the defenders are very hard to bypassed. Let see what our team can do when they are against teams that have fast attackers and creative midfielders in the next games.
sanchez has learnet nothing from messi, its the other way around, it was messi who dissliked sanchez a bit, and made things hard for him at times at barca.
the one teached sanchez his trait, is no one besides the great di natale
Gabriel teaching Jenkison his job..this is what you get when you put away your favouritism and play a proper winger instead of Ramsey..and shout out to Xhaka, his performance today reminds me of Arteta’s early days.. Sanchez’s 3rd goal?? lol d goalkeeper went fr a photoshoot
That fake shot by Sanchez was too illegal!
@Juni McLovin
Did you see the face of Alexis during the play? Priceless…
I saw it on the replay.. Hahah priceless
That was a very good response to the EFL disappointment, Alexis showing class. Àlso, Coquelin and Xhaka combo is looking solid. And on Chamberlain, he scored a wonderful goal, but truth be told he was wasteful and indecisive in the first half…I’m sure if this game has ended in a draw, those praising him would have blamed him a little…he has to step up!
Great win though!
OX final ball is lacking, but we can all see this is a confidence issue.
The good thing is he is dribbling past player, creating changes and getting on the score and asset sheet. The OX stepped up in the 2nd half.
Well done guys! What’s an exciting match thanks gunners.
I knew a guy that bought a car, a Lexus
He was an Arsenal star Alexis.
I didn’t expect a score line like that
A hattrick in under 15 minutes. Awesome
I am going to have a wonderful week 🙂
Great win
bring on Basel
#COYG
Did anyone notice that in 2nd half Walcott shifted to left and ox to right and that was what sparked ox into life. he also drifted into centre. that confidence gained during that period allowed him to play with more confidence when ramsey came and he shifted back. wenger should stop playing him on left wing. not all players play on both sides of wing. o has looked bad I recent games when he was on left wing and good on right
Great second half display. A bit edgy in the first half but it could have been a lot more. Well done lads made my weekend. BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!
-Why i think Arsenal can break the duck and win the league this season .
Typically these periods in past few seasons has seen us chasing the top table team with average of 10 points, then comes our end of season charge which has seen us having more points than any other epl team in the final two months of the season over the past few years as well.This is mostly due to injuries plaguing key members our team around this period every year, apparently we’ve gone through our rough mid season patch again or might still be going through seeing as we have list some key players like carzola , bellerin to injuries again .the only difference this time around is that , we did cope better than aforementioned seasons due to our stronger squad depth , with players like xhaka, elneny, ramsey, jenko and gabriel coming to deputise for our injured heros and they have done admirably well abeith on few occasions .we didnt loose certain games in which we were second best and have managed to keep our rival within touching distance as we are only 3 measly points away from the top.now if we can manage to find our end of seasons strong form like we have done in previous seasons, while we are still in the tittle chase miss.we just might be able to do it this time around.coyg
Should Arsenal win the League they should donate the trophy to Sanchez.
Good victory, and i dont see it stopping
So points of note
Alex was great and seem to been getting back that burst of speed, leaving several defenders in is wake and embarassing the keeper several time, Wenger better ensure Alex signs the ting
Coquelin and Xhaka looked quite comfortable and will only get better in the long run.
Ox showed why a lot of fans hold him in high regard, but must do this on a regular basis and it will become second nature, he seemed a lot calmer on the drivel and on the passes. he has all the tool to become a regular match winner if only he can perform consistently.
Gabriel seems like he has been playing right back all is life and can only become better with more games, was very calm on the ball.
The Ramsay situation, i was glad to see him coming off the bench and not starting, the only way he is to start is if he is playing the Ozil role and that can be considered in several games.
Last point, is Welbeck return i think he may be the key to our success this season, his work rate is on par with sanchez and may just give us that extra kick in the last couple months of the season/
LETS GO ARSENAL