For the second season in a row, we went on a first-half rampage at the London Stadium to blow West Ham United away as we won 5-2 to cap off a hugely successful week for Mikel Arteta's men.
To discover just why we were so devastating in east London, Adrian Clarke has poured through the footage and stats to unearth these five key takeaways from the game:
Gabriel loves London Stadium
For the third time in four seasons, Gabriel found the back of the net away to West Ham. 10 of the Brazilian’s 17 league goals have now come in London derbies (59%) which is the highest proportion of any player in Premier League history, who has scored at least 15 times.
The key to Gabriel’s success is his movement and expert timing. Instead of making a run from the penalty spot, he started in a crowded domain at the far post, where Michail Antonio was assigned to mark him.
The plan was for him to arc his run around Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and William Saliba, who were effectively his shield, and meet the ball between the Hammers' front post zonal markers:
As you can see, he looped his run around Calafiori, keeping the Italian and his marker between himself and Antonio. This created a healthy distance that forced the striker to run through a space crowded with bodies.
Jurrien Timber also played his part, dashing from the back post to the near in a bid to distract Lucas Pacqueta. Pleasingly, Gabriel’s brilliant zig-zagged run freed him up to connect with Bukayo Saka’s delivery unmarked.
Gabriel’s awareness of space and how to cause problems for his assigned marker is incredibly clever. He also dropped his shoulder before looping a similar run around Saliba for the penalty he earned just before the break. Once again, Antonio had to go the long way around to track his man:
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Unflappable Rice
Returning to face his former club is usually a hostile experience for Declan Rice, but he was calmness personified back on his old east London stomping ground.
During a sensational first half for the Gunners, he performed a dual role for the team. For the most part he stayed close to Jorginho in a central midfield double pivot, but during the build-up phase he would also drift wider towards the left.
Rice's first-half passes
At 5-2 up we tweaked the shape, reverting to more of a 4-3-3 than a 4-2-3-1, with Rice and Martin Odegaard having more clearly defined roles to the left and right of Jorginho. During the second period in that position, Rice’s passing accuracy was a perfect 100%:
Rice's second-half passes
Off the ball the England man was also excellent, breaking up play as a matter of course – and late on his outstanding 60-yard ball carry from inside his own half set up a chance for Raheem Sterling. It was one of three key passes made by Rice, who also switched play to Saka with three superb long passes in an impressive showing.
Kai’s subtle influence
Running onto Leandro Trossard’s inch-perfect through ball, Kai Havertz bagged his ninth goal of the campaign in style to make it 4-0, yet it was his involvement in some of our other goals that played just as big a part in this statement win.
In the build-up to Trossard’s beautifully crafted goal, Havertz intelligently pulled away from his centre-forward spot, peeling into space to offer Saliba a pass. Without that smart decision, Saka and Odegaard may not have had the opportunity to combine so spectacularly on the edge of the box:
The German also gave us a long ball outlet ahead of the penalty that Saka earned for us to make it 3-0. Sprinting to back into his marker from a long clearance, Havertz’s knockdown for Odegaard gave us the platform to release Saka for his mesmeric dribble:
And ahead of Lukasz Fabianski’s foul on Gabriel, a decision by Havertz to go and crowd the goalkeeper’s space, undoubtedly impacted his ability to come out and punch the ball as he had wanted:
These three understated pieces of play have not been widely praised, but they impacted our performance in such a positive way.
Timber's adventurous side
This was another impressive outing from Jurrien Timber. The Dutchman comfortably pocketed lively left winger Crysencio Summerville who was withdrawn at half-time, and he was sharp in everything he did, with and without the ball.
Underlapping and overlapping whenever opportunities arose for him to join in with attacks, Timber was influential in the final third. Remarkably, he had the second-highest number of touches inside the West Ham box, making plenty of forward runs which were targeted by passes.
|Timber v West Ham|AFC Rank|
|---|---|---|
|Duels won|7|1st|
|Dribbles|4|1st|
|Fouls won|3|1st|
|Touches in box|5|2nd|
|Runs targeted by a pass|6|=2nd|
|Runs into box|4|3rd|
|Touches|68|3rd|
Dribbling with confidence, drawing fouls, and linking play neatly, we are seeing Timber’s assertiveness grow week after week.
Saka the star
Three shots, one goal. Four chances created, two assists. This was yet another right-wing masterclass from Bukayo Saka, and the quality of his set-piece deliveries were on point throughout, directly leading to two of our five strikes.
He also conjured up a pair of other genius moments. Saka’s one-two with Odegaard sent him into the danger zone before an exquisite touch with his left thigh allowed him to punch a right-footed half-volley along the face of goal for Trossard to tap in, and the 23-year-old’s sublime weaving run that saw him tripped by Lucas Pacqueta for a penalty. was another highlight.
Saka’s touch map shows how Arsenal got him onto the ball in just the right area of the pitch:
In terms of his contributions over the season so far, Saka is statistically the most creative Premier League player. He is a special young talent who continues pushing for even higher standards.
Can he beat Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne’s record of 20 assists in a single campaign? As it stands after 13 games, he is ahead of both players. Only Mesut Ozil (12 – 2015/16), Cesc Fabregas (12 – 2014/15) and Harry Kane (11 – 2020/21) have boasted more assists at this stage of a Premier League season.
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