Thoughts at full time
Straight into the format.
Headline: Arsenal continues first half excellence
31 - Minutes before the Nottingham Forest game where Arsenal have spent winning by more than a single goal this season.
101 - Minutes Arsenal have spent winning by more than a single goal now in the last two Premier League matches. Not even counting the extra 68 that they had if you include the midweek match against Sporting.
It is amazing how much better things look when the team is able to come out and impose themselves on the game and turn that dominance into goals.
Arsenal held West Ham to nothing in the first 38 minutes and in that time they had jumped out to a 4 goal lead from 4 big chances and basically total dominance of all the statistical categories.
Sure, the switching off to let Wan-Bissaka through wasn’t pretty but you are a lot more forgiving of that sort of brain fart in this game state. The free kick was a real beauty, but it is a lot easier to tip your cap and appreciate it when it doesn’t really change the chances in the game all that much.
It feels like a nice throw back to last season where Arsenal were able to dictate their play style on to the game and it all flows from there for the team to be able to play a low intensity second half and be able to rotate and get ready for the next game.
Stock Rising: Declan Rice