Arsenal earned an impressive 5-2 victory against West Ham at the London Stadium, continuing their excellent run of form.
With their star players in the starting lineup, Arsenal began the game strongly and took the lead within the first ten minutes through a Gabriel Magalhães header with Bukayo Saka assisting..
It remained all Arsenal, as West Ham appeared stunned and uncertain whether to stick to their game plan.
Less than 20 minutes later, Arsenal found the back of the net again thanks to Leandro Trossard, and the Gunners extended their lead to 3-0 just past the half-hour mark following a penalty, which Martin Odegaard dispatched with ease.
Not satisfied, Kai Havertz added a fourth goal in the 36th minute, prompting many West Ham fans to start leaving the stadium.
Remarkably, the Gunners had scored nine goals in approximately 125 minutes of football across their matches against Sporting Club and West Ham.
However, West Ham showed some resilience shortly after Arsenal’s fourth goal, scoring twice in two minutes to narrow the deficit.
Arsenal responded with another goal before halftime via another penalty and this time it was Saka and not Odegaard taking the honours, making it 5-2 in a half that saw more goals than any Premier League match had in over a decade.
Unfortunately, one of Arsenal’s key players, Gabriel, could not return for the second half due to an injury sustained earlier in the match.
Mikel Arteta’s men began the second half with noticeably less intensity, giving the impression that West Ham might claw their way back into the game.
The Hammers were the better side for much of the second period, but Arsenal’s defence held firm to maintain their lead.
Arteta introduced some attacking substitutes to further strengthen the lead, but none of the new players managed to add to the scoreline.
Overall it was a performance to remember and one that will send a strong message to both Man City and Liverpool.
Hard fought win on the road, disappointed with the two goals conceded and failing to bury some of our chances but it is what it is, we turn our focus on United’s visit next. COYG!!!!
I was disappointed as well but tbf they were 2 really good goals!
A well satisfied game plan by the boys and each one except for Havert whom I don’t see as a player other than as our only weakness nearly I’m every our matches…
Anyways manuer utd. Next… Please does anyone knows what’s wrong with Partey and Merino please? Can’t afford injury to anyone other Havert! Please
… nearly in every our matches…
What quarrel do you have with Havertz? Is it because he scores goals often? You call him the weak point? Are you talking about Havertz or another player? I think you better make a recollection.
Famochi, you need a doctor and English teacher as well.
Something is wrong with your brain
That’s uncalled for. If English is not his first language he’s doing quite well TBH.
The more overseas fans who come here with their opinions the better.
In fact @ JPS,,,,
That comment was downright disgusting. You are going into moderation until you fix YOUR brain
You hardly see up to 40 comments most time we win … But any lost always generate over 100 comments within an hour or less…… Why?
2 reasons
1. Losing brings out the need to moan about something that occurred during the match and it’s a way of letting off steam. We all get more involved under those circumstances
2. It’s undeniable that there are a number of regulars who can’t wait to firstly sharpen the knife when the situation arises and secondly to have a stab. For those who have never been able to move away from the anti Arteta rhetoric, it’s a blindingly good opportunity to keep sticking the knife in when given the opportunity in the hope he cocks up and they will be vindicated in their belief that he was never good enough to manage our club. I can’t see there is any other explanation.
SueP
Don’t be a tease
Name names 😁
We all know who they are and at times they have valid reason and constructive criticism
Mostly they are extremely boring 😴
Today was a good day
Thought there 2nd goal was an absolute peach of a free kick
Saying that it was never a free kick in the first place. DR won the ball fair and square
On to the next and we march on
Onwards and upwards
Allanball08
You are absolutely right I am a tease and will remain so 😉
There is nothing wrong with valid criticism – as you put it when needed. Some of it is just gratuitous unfortunately and definitely boring
They go drinking till the next day anytime we win.
Not much constructive commentary up above. When someone can’t watch a game is there any point in just lining up to say great win, three more points?
Maybe some fans have a life on a Saturday night ,rather than watching the chase and winging about fellow Arsenal fans because they havent commented about how great Arteta is .
We won ,we played great in the first half got lucky with alot of decisions(no mention from the VAR conspiracy lot )
End of ,still 9 points behind the pool .
Could also say when things aren’t going great the usual suspects go missing until the good times roll .
Swings and roundabouts you could say
Sorry Joe wasn’t ment as a reply to you but the Arteta creeps above .
Whingeing *
@Junking
Because the manager and players have done their job they are paid very handsomely to do. Less comments means no frustrated fans.
What do you want them to do? Complain we have won?
SueP
You are bold, never afraid to call a spade a spade.
There is nothing wrong with constructive criticism Gunsmoke and we all engage in it at times. Even though we had a very good win, there were points of criticism to raise and those have been. It’s part and parcel of having lively discussions.
The posts about making excuses for our run of difficult results being worthy of derision is in fact no different from highlighting the feeble excuse about not commenting on the team when we win as it’s what they are paid to do.
No sense of joy that the results are improving at all. Zilch
Take away their goals and this was a fantastic performance from everyone involved – a great club performance.
Once again, we score five goals without this striker we desperately need!!
My only disappointment was their two goals of course, one of which was a free kick that should never have been given.
Am I being unfair when I say that some of their tackles in the latter part of the first half and all of the second half, was not punished?
Let’s hope everyone is fit for Wednesday, can’t wait to be there!!
@Ken1945
Not just unfair:
Some might be disappointed. You are being a cry baby.
Those unpunished tackles are the reason Arsenal should have lost that match . . .
Most won’t comment on that because to them:
1. That is being naive
4. No legs got broken
2. Those were mere inconsistencies
3. They would cancel out, eventually
5. No penalties were given, against Arsenal
6. Maybe some more grammartized unreasonable points they might have.
When match officials go one-sided, the game usually tend that sided. Simple to see. Simple to understand, no matter what sport it is.
Arsenal could have ended up losing that game and you get things like:
it was not the referees fault Harvertz didn’t score a hattrick
it was not the referee’s fault Kiwior couldn’t clear the lines
the Arsenal player were playing with neither heart nor spirit
they got too comfortable and rested on their laurels
Arteta is stupid, he took off Saka and Ødegaard
it was not the referee’s fault WH scored a wonderful freekick
e t c e t c e t c e c t e c t e c t
The referee, usually, is more powerful than the two best players from each team, put together.
See how a dilute WestHam just about ran through Arsenal like ants through cracked wall, courtesy — match officiating.
See WestHam clear offsides; they were allowed to continue play when they had the ball . . . the linesman wouldn’t flank until later – as should. But with Arsenal, not so.
A reasonable team should not have lost to Arsenal with that kind of officiating and some would have called for Arteta’s head.
I’ve seen Arsenal face that kind of officiating more than five times, already, in the EPL, this season.
Deliberate Inconsistencies by world class vampire umpires.
The referee wanted you to lose the game.
If that would not work: make you suffer injuries and be unstable in forth coming ones.
A referee could make you lose more games than the one officiated.
Back to your question, Ken1945: yes. You are being unfair.
You are being unfair to those who thrive on fraud.
@SueP… Those points are so true
Strange Strange game. We went from raging tigers to timid mice in minutes. Great 3 points and ultimately great win. BUT! It doesn’t seem to take much to make us go into our shells. And i am not only on about this game. It seems that its a problem and has been in the past. It didn’t affect the result today at all but its a little disconcerting going forwards for the rest of the season. Some great football in the first half and not so much in the second. Saka our stand out player, by a country mile. Lets hope Partey is ok for Wednesday and beyond.
Reggie,in my opinion,sometimes when a game is pretty much won,like it was in the first half,teams tend to put their foot off the gas pedal. Perharps this they do to conserve energy and avoid needless injuries. Remember they have to play every three days. In that sense,it’s counterintuitive to continue going hard when you have a three goal cushion.
Its more the way we lose control of games, that we have dominated. Its not the first time, win lose or draw, we lose our mojo. It is an underlying problem and one that has caused us problems previous seasons. And one that has contributed to us being so far behind Liverpool. It didn’t make any difference to last nights result but it has in the past.
In the absence of Odegaard yes we did lose control of games. He’s key to dictating the tempo of the game. But I wouldn’t say we lost control of this game. For the first goal,it was a spectacular pass to Wan Bissaka and a lapse of concentration from Trossard made it easy for him-it happens. For the second goal,it wasn’t a foul in the first place. Rice won the ball. But that freekick was stunning and no defense or goalkeeper could stop it.
I disagree that we lost control of the game. We simply let them have the ball in the second half and they didn’t look like scoring. Like I said,not being dominant enough has contributed to us being behind Pool,but there are other reasons like injuries(particularly Odegaard’s),red cards and the fact that we’ve played much harder fixtures than Pool. As good as they’ve been,I’m not sure they would have picked maximum points away at Villa,Newvastle,Chelsea,Tottenham and City.
Solid win from the Ladz. It was looking like a stroll in the park on a lovely Saturday, until we took our foot off and let them back into the game. No complaints though, with the exception of me wondering why we went after Sterling.
Oh well, on to the next one.
NY, I don’t think we took our foot off the pedal. They scored a brilliant goal and a fantastic free kick. We then seemed to go in our shells a bit. We started giving the ball away, when we were not before. It didn’t matter last night but we need to react differently to set backs. Its cost us in the past.
@Reggie
That pass to Bissaka cut through our midfield as well as back line. They just watched it, then tried to react when it was too late. The free kick was sublime, nothing to be done about that one…
NY, sometimes you just have to admit that a pass (like the Trossard one) and a goal make it nearly unstoppable. The pass for Bissaka was exceptional and split us open.
@Reggie
Realness 👍🏾
I imagine all football fans get the jitters when going from a 4-0 lead to the opposition scoring 2 in quick succession. The fear of losing momentum springs to mind and I definitely got the jitters. Saka’s penalty calmed things down but up until West Ham’s second goal went in there was only one team in it.
This is entirely normal. Footballers, especially the more inexperienced, can also start making more mistakes when the game state suddenly seems to shift.
The team managed to become surefooted after the scares and in the end we won comfortably.
It is no mean feat to score 5 goals against a PL side especially away from home. We have a had a great week and need to maintain this level of performance.
I went from total jubilation to a nervous wreck in the space of 2 minutes but all’s well in the end. We played some great stuff and scored wonderful goals. Bring on Man U.
Very good play from our players. Get ready for united in midweek. Hope partey will be fit
Three wins four to go, Timber is really a top player, did anyone notice his brother played a blinder against the champion?
Another 5 goal thrashing! What a way to prepare for Man U. Now I hope we fix 2 things. Our fullbacks are EXTREMELY POOR at taking throw-ins and Raya’s constant and pathetic time-wasting antics need to stop. I can’t imagine Arteta would instruct Raya to do what he has been doing nearly every game we are ahead. Dark arts should be used sparingly not every time. In the EPL these tactics have been tolerated but in the UCL we already saw our throw-in handed over to the opponents (not that it matters since nearly all our throw-ins end up with the opponent) and Raya yellow carded for time wasting. We need to improve on this. We can win most games without dirty tactics.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call time-wasting ‘dirty tactics,’ but seeing our players continuously do this is extremely irritating. It’s not as if they’re unaware of the likely outcomes of continuous deployment, so it can only be something the coaches at Arsenal have drilled into them.
Let’s see what happens when a key player gets two yellows.
Odegaards return has lifted our performance big time.Plus Timber at R.b and Partey back in midfield makes us great.
I hope both Partey and Merino will be available on Wednesday.
Thirteen goals in the last three games, this cannot be a club that has a striker crisis .
Well played Arsenal, another good result backed up by the overall performance, especially in the first half.
Can we play West Ham every week.😂🤣
There second goal should never have come about though, Rice’s tackle was perfectly timed and he clearly got the ball.
Onto the next game, keep it going boys.
In one week we have played three games, two away from home. We have managed to score 13 goals and conceded 3 and win all of them. We aren’t perfect but not many is better than us. COYG
Didrik, I would suggest that, up until their first goal, our performance against WHU was perfection.
One wonders how many more goals we could have scored, with this elusive striker some want?
Ken. 1, its not the games we score in that the argument for a striker is strong, its the games we don’t. 2, tell me the last trophy we have won without a proper striker. 3, what option do we have other than Haverz. The last trophy Arteta won, was with a striker, in fact two but he sold both and bought Jesus, who isn’t a striker as long as he has a hole in his arse. If we win the league or CL this season, then there is no argument. If we don’t, I will be at the front of the queue shouting that we dijave striker.
Shouting we didn’t have a striker.
But you can’t just blame the four barren years just because we sold Aubameyang Reggie!!
There are so many other situations to take into account.
Injuries, refereeing decisions, substitutions to name just three.
I agree we are not have let a golden boot winner leave for nothing, at least without a replacement, but we have more than enough players who are scoring goals across the squad, from White, Gabriel and Califiori, to Partey, Rice and Odegaard, backed up by Saka, Martinelli and Trossard.
I watched the pool / city game today and Haaland once again did nothing, while pool, without an out and out striker, had ten times as many shots at goal and won 2-0!!
Maybe we should ask why both pool and The Arsenal are first and second in the league tonight?
I’m not saying we shouldn’t be looking, but there is no guarantee that buying a CF will win us the league.
Should not have let a golden boot!!
Ken city won the league and CL with Haarland. I am not blaming the four barren years on not having a striker. I am saying Arsenal football club and nearly every club in the world wins trophies with a top striker. We have only won trophies when we have had one.
Man City, R. Madrid won trophies without an out and out striker. So there’s a base of optimism. As for auba and co. we’ve been a better team without them albeit no trophy.
But yes we should be eyeing a striker but we’re not in desperate need of one
Good win Arsenal, down the right side we don’t have a problem creating.
But I think that we need to start functioning better down the left side.
If they can get that right, who knows where we can go.
I’d agree with that Derek
As long as Martinelli gets a regular LB, rather than Califiori, Zinchenko, Timber, Kiwior due to injuries!!
Of course, the forgotten man who was to be our captain, Tesco Tierney is fully fit again and I, personally, rate him the best LB of the lot!!
But Arteta doesn’t Ken.
Back in the squad though Reggie!
Ken1945,
I totally agree with you. Tierney is exactly what it says on the tin, a genuine left back and a good one at that.
He would do a good job given the chance, so come on Arteta, open your eyes and give this man a chance.
Junking:
1. Bad news, is good news.
The media sells calamity better than they do boon and that is down to human attributes of people having affinity to display stronger and more long-lasting taste of dissatisfaction and grief than that of joy and success.
And so, Arsenal fans are more readily available to jump on it and comment more on disaster results.
2. Favouritism
Some dudes have their favourites – whether or not they play well is irrelevant to them – they must play. When they do not play and the team does not win . . . Trouble. They come out sword-swinging.
3. Disdain:
Some dudes have personalities they have decided not to like. So, whenever the team loses . . . finger pointing, immediately. Saliba, this; Trossard, that; Harvertz, those; Raya is too short; Arteta nonsense.
4. Foes:
Just one Arsenal lose . . .
You see some jumping on the comment section of pages to show their warped pleasure in Arsenal dropping points. Some pose as fans.
5. More are welcome.
WestHam were the better team for much of the second half because the referee was on fire for them.