Bukayo Saka celebrates scoring from the penalty spot against West Ham.
Relentless Arsenal put up a five-star first-half performance to skewer West Ham and put Mikel Arteta’s men right back in the title race.
Gabriel Magalhaes got the ball rolling when steering home a corner before Leandro Trossard, a Martin Odegaard penalty and a Kai Havertz counterattack had the Gunners four to the good after 36 minutes.
Bukayo Saka, who had provided the assists for Arsenal's opening two goals, added a fifth in added time after awful West Ham showed brief signs of a comeback through Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson Palmieri, who did convert a stunning free kick.
It was the first time in a dozen years that a Premier League game had seven goals by half-time - and the second period unsurprisingly passed by without much of note.
Here are five talking points from the London Stadium on a big night for Arsenal.
Premier League release statement on Bukayo Saka incident during West Ham vs Arsenal
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Spreading the love
“Who put the ball in the West Ham net? Half the f***ing team did”
Arsenal have now had five different scorers in back-to-back games - a remarkable statistic for a team that has, in the space of eight days, looked completely revitalised.
Putting it all down to the return of Martin Odegaard is too much but since the international break Arsenal have attacked with creativity and purpose against opponents with very different skillsets.
Their struggles earlier in autumn could still prove decisive come the spring but before Liverpool host Man City on Sunday there can be no disputing they are right back in the title race.
Set-piece specialists
The opener came from a familiar move as Gabriel held court with Saka before the latter delivered a corner to the near post. With set-piece coach Nicolas Jover directing things from the touchline, Arsenal players gathered at the back stick before racing forward with Gabriel sufficiently bamboozling Michail Antonio enough that he had a free header.
That was Gabriel’s 17th goal from a non-penalty set piece since the 2020-21 season - the next best in that time is James Ward-Prowse back on 14.
Opponents have long been warned - and some are learning to deal with it - but Arsenal’s dead ball threat remains live and well.
West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski punches Gabriel of Arsenal to concede a penalty.
Ode to Saka
Beyond Odegaard’s own brilliance, the extent to which he allows Saka to flourish remains underplayed. The captain’s mere presence ensures opponents cannot put three players on Saka. And in the past three games the England winger has thrived with additional free.
He has now contributed directly to 15 goals (10 of them assists) - which is more than six Premier League teams, including Manchester United (13 with a game in hand to come on Sunday).
West Ham game plan
As the evening progressed Julen Lopetegui’s face became more anguished in the posh seats every time the TV cameras pointed to him. Serving a one-match touchline ban, the head coach watched his team set out to counterattack only for their shambolic defending to make the entire exercise pointless.
They were 4-0 down by the time they put together a spell of decent play and even the fightback was short-lived.
Winning at Newcastle will keep him in a job for now but the jury remains out on a head coach who is yet to really outline what the game plan is meant to be.
Rice reaction
In his third return to Stratford since leaving for £105m 18 months ago, Declan Rice had his initial touches booed by a large number of Hammers fans.
But when he sauntered over to take an early corner kick the jeers were overtaken by applause.
A curiously mixed response to a former captain who led the club to their first trophy in more than four decades.
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