A sensational display saw us thrash West Ham United at the London Stadium as we saw five different players get on the scoresheet to record our biggest-ever away win in the Premier League.
We were four goals ahead at the break after William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel and Leandro Trossard all netted, with the final three strikes coming during a breathless six-minute period at the end of the opening 45.
Then after the interval Saka completed his brace before Declan Rice blasted in from 25 yards to cap off a perfect day for Mikel Arteta’s side, who recorded a fourth-straight win to keep the pressure on our title rivals.
Saliba starts the rout
Having fallen to defeat twice at the Hammers’ hands already this season, you could sense the determination from our players to settle the score right from the opening whistle, and we began dominating possession and territory as we worked through the gears.
It took us 20 minutes or so to create a real chance of note, and three would fall to the recalled Trossard in quick succession. After heading a Saka cross over from a good position, the Belgian then blasted a volley goalwards that Alphonse Areola acrobatically tipped over the crossbar, and then he hooked an awkward opportunity wide of the mark as we began to pepper the Hammers goal.
However our pressure finally told on 32 minutes when Rice marked his first league return to the London Stadium by whipping in a delightful corner which Saliba flicked into the net to score his second of the campaign, and the lead could have been extended further when Saka screwed a header off target, and then when faced one-on-one with Areola he dinked the ball over the shot-stopper but saw it drift wide of the far post.
Three in six minutes
But he was soon sent racing clear on goal again seconds later, and this time he rounded the French keeper who tripped him to concede a clear penalty. Having missed a crucial spot-kick at the same stadium last season, the attacker showed huge courage to step up and dispatch it into the net to double our advantage on 41 minutes, and score his 50th Gunners goal.
The travelling supporters were then cheering loudly again three minutes later when Trossard did well to win a free-kick on the left touchline which was whipped invitingly into the area by Rice, and this time Gabriel emulated his central defensive partner to head in his fourth goal in his last seven Premier League outings.
The appetite for goals continued and two minutes into stoppage-time at the end of the half, a fourth arrived when Martin Odegaard drove forward through the heart of the defence and found Trossard, who got the ball out of his feet and spun a shot into the top corner of the net to make it a half to remember for Arteta’s side.
Rice nails Hammers from range
The Hammers had failed to win in the league since beating us in December and looked to be a shell of that side, and after the break the one-way traffic continued and the chances piled up. Saka forced Areola into another good save from close range before getting his second of the afternoon when Odegaard slipped him in, and he cut inside two defenders before drilling into the bottom corner to reach 100 goals and assists for the club.
Two minutes later, salt was rubbed into the home fans’ wounds when Rice netted in style. The chance looked to have gone when Ben White’s cutback saw Odegaard and Trossard get in each other’s way, but Rice walloped the ball first-time from 25 yards and saw it arc past the outstretched Areola to complete a wonderful afternoon’s work.
The final quarter of the game saw Arteta manage his squad and hand minutes to the likes of Mohamed Elneny, Cedric and 16-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, as well as Eddie Nketiah who dragged an effort straight at Areola during his time on the field, but the damage had already been well and truly done on an unforgettable afternoon for all Gooners.
Facts and stats
West Ham suffered their joint-heaviest home defeat in their league history, while the only other time they’ve lost by six goals in the top-flight came back in December 1963 against Blackburn Rovers (8-2).
We registered our joint-biggest margin of victory in an away league match, and our first such win by six goals since December 1935 against Aston Villa (7-1). This was also our joint-biggest win in a London derby in league competition, with all three of those ending 6-0.
For only the second time in the Premier League, a side managed by David Moyes conceded 6+ goals in a home game – both instances came in matches against us (also Everton 1-6 Arsenal in August 2009).
With our 6-0 win at West Ham and Newcastle's 8-0 win at Sheffield United, 2023/24 is the first English top-flight season to see two separate 6+ goal victories by away sides since 1959/60.
Declan Rice assisted two goals in a Premier League game for the first time in his career, with today being his 228th game in the competition. With his second-half strike, it was also the first time he’s been directly involved in 3+ goals in a Premier League match.
We have scored the most goals from corners of any team in the Premier League this season (11), with each of the last three being headers from centre-backs (Gabriel x2 and William Saliba today).
Gabriel has scored 14 goals in the Premier League, the most of any defender in the competition since the start of 2020/21. Overall, Laurent Koscielny (22) is the only defender who has netted more goals for us in the division than the Brazilian (14).
What's next
We head to Burnley next Saturday for a traditional 3pm kick-off, before we return to Champions League action with a trip to Porto for the first leg of our round of 16 tie on Wednesday, 21 February.
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