We blew away West Ham at the London Stadium, with all of our goals coming in a remarkable opening half.
Gabriel got it all started in the 10th minute, with a header from a corner, before Leandro Trossard tapped in our second. Bukayo Saka was brought down inside the area for Martin Odegaard to score from the penalty spot and Kai Havertz raced onto a Trossard pass to make it 4-0 with 10 minutes of the first half remaining.
West Ham mustered a comeback with a quickfire double. Aaron Wan-Bissaka scored inside the area and Emerson curled home a free-kick.
We were awarded a second penalty in first-half stoppage time, this time scored by Saka, and that settled us down again, allowing us to see out the win in the second half.
Gabriel gets us going
With second place in the table the prize for victory, we set about West Ham early on. We had enjoyed more than 80 per cent possession in the opening ten minutes, and the pressure soon paid off.
Once again it was a set piece that caused the problems. With the first corner we had won on the right, Saka’s inswinging delivery was perfect for Gabriel to drift across the defence and steer home his near-post header. It was the big Brazilian’s fourth goal of the season – all headers from corners.
At the other end Crysencio Summerville had the ball in the net, lifting it over David Raya when one on one, but the offside flag was raised.
Midway through the half Saka found himself with space inside the West Ham area, with the ball on his left foot, but as he looked to pick out the top corner, his shot flew just wide.
Another dangerous Saka corner resulted in Timber’s header being parried at close range, and Jorginho did well to stick out a leg and stop any potential counter-attack from the hosts.
Flurry of goals
A second goal looked inevitable, and this time Trossard supplied the finish.
Martin Odegaard lifted the ball into the path of Saka inside the area, and he squared for the Belgian to tap in.
In very quickly got even better. Saka was too hot to handle inside the area and Lucas Paqueta rashly brought him down. Penalty, and Saka handed the ball to his skipper. Odegaard made no mistake, scoring low inside the post for his first goal of the season.
Within 90 seconds we scored again. An excellent searching pass from Trossard deep in his own half set Havertz through on goal. Confronted by Lukasz Fabianski in goal, he comfortably dispatched our fourth of an incredible first half.
We had raced to a 4-0 lead in this stadium last season, and history was repeating itself here.
But this time West Ham had a response, and it was instant. Aaron Wan-Bissaka ran onto a defence-splitting Carlos Soler pass before beating Raya at his near post.
Hope for the home side, and remarkably they got another just two minutes later. They won a disputed free-kick just outside our area, and Emerson dispatched his shot into the top corner, giving Raya no chance.
The London Stadium had witnessed four goals in six minutes, and the momentum was now very much with the home side.
As this incredible first half ticked into overtime, we restored our three-goal advantage. Another Saka corner caused problems for West Ham. Fabianski tried to punch clear, but connected instead with Gabriel’s head. Penalty awarded again, this time Saka took the honours.
Different corner, same outcome. For those losing count it made it 5-2 at half-time, only the fourth time ever that the first half of a Premier League match had contained seven goals.
Calm descends
With a goal arriving every six and a half minutes on average the interval was a time for everyone to take stock. Jakub Kiwior replaced Gabriel at the break and Oleksandr Zinchenko was also sent on early in the second half.
Both teams looked dangerous on the attack. Michail Antonio shot just wide before Odegaard drew a comfortable save from Fabianski.
Another sub, Raheem Sterling, shot into the side netting after a promising attack, and floated a free-kick wide, but the second half was a huge contrast to the first in terms of goalmouth action.
But the job had long been done. This made it three wins in the space of a week, with 13 goals scored, a great way to head into a busy December.
Facts and stats
We have now scored 5+ goals in five different away games in all competitions in 2024, the joint-most in a single calendar year by an English top-flight side. Sunderland in 1892 and Manchester City in 1937 are the only other sides to achieve the landmark.
Bukayo Saka has provided 10 assists in our first 13 Premier League games this season, only Harry Kane (11 in 2020-21), Cesc Fàbregas (12 in 2014-15) and Mesut Özil (12 in 2015-16) have reached double figures in fewer games into a season.
This was the first time in Premier League history that we have scored two first-half penalties, with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard netting from the spot.
We have now scored 60 Premier League away goals against West Ham, becoming the first side to score 60+ on the road against a single opponent in the competition's history.
What’s next
The games keep coming, and it’s Manchester United at home on Wednesday in the Premier League next. That’s followed by another London derby, away to Fulham, next Sunday.
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