Bukayo Saka was the star of a seven-goal first half, as his goal, two assists, and won penalty helped the Gunners to a 5-2 defeat of West Ham at the London Stadium on Saturday.
Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Magalhaes also scored, though Magalhaes early second half injury will grab as many headlines as his goal.
The Gunners have now scored 10 goals in their last two matches following a 5-1 smashing of Sporting Lisbon 5-1 in the Portuguese capital on Tuesday. Arsenal move ahead of Brighton into second place on the Premier League table with 25 points, six behind Liverpool before the Reds meet Man City on Sunday,
Julen Lopetegui’s Hammers eased plenty of the pressure on them with a much-needed 2-0 win at Newcastle on Monday, but trailed 4-0 before getting goals from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson Palmieri on Saturday. West Ham stays 14th with 15 points.
Forget the concessions — no one beats this Arsenal
It feels like each week of Premier League match recaps has been singing the praises of Bukayo Saka, so we’re going to skip past his incredible day aside from noting he did require trainer help at one point in the second half before continuing his match. Arsenal were lethal in building their 4-0 lead, and having five different goal scorers further sings from Mikel Arteta’s hymnal. Yes, they have their peers — Liverpool have a winners’ mentality and a good lead on the table, plus Man City is pound-for-pound a deeper team with a megastar center forward. But when the Gunners are playing with the commitment and joy they displayed Saturday at West Ham, there’s no one better than them. And Arteta will make sure they continue playing one game at a time as they bid to chase down their rivals.
West Ham vs Arsenal player ratings
(from fotmob.com)
West Ham vs Arsenal player ratings (from fotmob.com)
West Ham vs Arsenal player ratings (from fotmob.com)
What’s next?
West Ham go to Leicester City at 3:15pm ET Tuesday, then host Wolves at 3pm on Monday, Dec. 9.
Arsenal host Manchester United at 3:15pm Wednesday, and go to Fulham at 9am on Sunday, Dec. 8.
How to watch West Ham vs Arsenal live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 12:30pm ET, Saturday (November 30)
Venue: London Stadium — London
TV Channel: USA Network
Streaming: Watch live online via NBC.com
West Ham vs Arsenal final score: 2-5
Gabriel Magalhaes 10', Leandro Trossard 26', Martin Odegaard 34', Kai Havertz 36', Aaron Wan-Bissaka 38', Emerson Palmieri 40', Bukayo Saka 45+5'
West Ham vs Arsenal live updates — By Nick Mendola
Gabriel injury, West Ham chance
Gabriel has to leave with an injury, and Jakub Kiwior takes his place.
It’s not long before the Polish back is at the center of the action, as Lucas Paqueta finds Michail Antonio atop the 18.
Antonio turns and makes room off of Kiwior’s mark, but drills his shot wide of the frame.
Oleksandr Zinchenko enters for Riccardo Calafiori.
5-2 Arsenal, 57'.
Halftime — West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
There’s been one save in this game — from Lukasz Fabianski — to go with the half-dozen goals.
West Ham have just 0.69 xG while the Gunners have cooked up 2.59. Arsenal’s on 68% possession and have out-attempted the Hammers 9-4.
Someone has come back from 4-0 down against Arsenal — shout out to the late Cheick Tiote — but what about coming back from 5-2?
Arsenal penalty — Bukayo Saka goal — West Ham 2-5 Arsenal (45+5')
Fabianski goes up for a high ball and his first catches Gabriel.
It’s called and confirmed as a penalty, and Saka buries it.
Emerson Palmieri free kick goal! — West Ham 2-4 Arsenal (40th minute)
What is going on here!?
West Ham win a free kick a little more than 25 yards out.
And Emerson Palmieri curls in a wonderful, first-class, upper 90 free kick.
Wow. It’s not over in London, and now the teams are exchanging shoves shortly after restart as Saka takes exception to Emerson stepping on a prone Jurrien Timber.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka goal — West Ham 1-4 Arsenal (39th minute)
Or is it? Arsenal take their eye of the ball for just a minute, and West Ham get one back.
Carlos Soler plays a pretty back post ball, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka has beaten Riccardo Calafiori to snap it past David Raya.
Kai Havertz goal — West Ham 0-4 Arsenal (36th minute)
Leandro Trossard’s long ball skips on the turf as West Ham make a meal of it.
Kai Havertz is through on goal and beats Fabianski. This is a ROUT.
Arsenal penalty — West Ham 0-3 Arsenal (34th minute)
Saka dribbles past two defenders and the second, Lucas Paqueta, clips the English winger.
Saka goes down. Saka goes to the spot, and hands the ball to Martin Odegaard.
The Norwegian captain rolls it home low with his left foot.
Saka has set up all three goals (though he won’t get an assist for the third).
Rout on? Leandro Trossard goal — West Ham 0-2 Arsenal (26th minute)
They rarely get easier than Leandro Trossard’s job — finishing a 3v0 at the back post.
It’s a 10th assist of the Premier League season for Bukayo Saka.
Offside goal!
Jarrod Bowen plays Crysencio Summerville toward the Arsenal 18, and Summerville delivers a delightful finish.
The game is not level, however, as the flag goes up and Summerville was certainly offside.
Gabriel Magalhaes goal! West Ham 0-1 Arsenal (10th minute)
Arteta’s Arsenal love corner kicks.
Gabriel Magalhaes floats around the perimeter of a pack of players, getting to the front post to turn Bukayo Saka’s ball across Lukasz Fabianski and inside the far post.
West Ham lineup
Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson, Soler, Soucek, Paqueta, Summerville, Bowen, Antonio
Arsenal lineup
Raya, Timber, Saliba, Magalhaes, Calafiori, Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard, Saka, Trossard, Havertz
West Ham team news, focus
The Hammers went with Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville in attack at Newcastle and it worked really well. Lucas Paqueta is getting back towards his best and the glimmer of hope for West Ham is that they looked a lot better defensively away at Newcastle. If they can figure things out at the back, this squad has the potential to push for European qualification for a third-straight season.
OUT: Niclas Fullkrug (calf), Mohammed Kudus (suspension) | QUESTIONABLE: Jean-Clair Todibo (undisclosed)
Arsenal team news, focus
This is much more like it from Arsenal. Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are their only two injury absentees and all of a sudden Mikel Arteta has a host of options to choose from. He’s not playing players who are less than 100 percent fit and has the luxury of resting some stars. He won’t do that against West Ham and the trio of Odegaard, Rice and Partey will surely start in midfield. Calafiori and Timber at left back and right back respectively have been superb in recent games.
OUT: Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Ben White (knee) | QUESTIONABLE: Gabriel Magalhaes (undisclosed)
West Ham vs Arsenal prediction
This has sometimes been a tricky fixture for Arsenal and West Ham will be full of confidence heading into this game. But Arsenal’s midfield and attack is purring once again and they will get the job done. West Ham 1-3 Arsenal.
