Arsenal roast West Ham to remain in touching distance of top spot

West Ham 0 Arsenal 6    
Premier League   
Sunday 11th February 2024  2pm    

Against Palace, Arsenal won 5-0 without having to play that well. At West Ham yesterday, once again the opposition were poor, but on the back of an excellent performance against Liverpool, Mikel Arteta’s team were in top form and might have scored more than the six they did. Once Declan Rice had scored the final goal of the game, the Gunners’ manager took off the scorer, Saka and Trossard and no further damage was done to distress the Hammers’ fans that did remain in the stadium until the final whistle.

 

Jorginho and Zinchenko were the players replaced from the win a week before, the latter injured. Trossard and Kiwior came in, the Belgian as the central striker with Havertz playing deeper. Trossard had two of his side’s best chances before the scoring opened after half an hour had been played. It was one way traffic with Arsenal creating all the danger.

 

Their set pieces are getting better and better. Declan Rice is the man taking them from the left wing now and his delivery is often pinpoint. From a corner, he found Saliba at the back post, and his header put his team ahead. It was a surprise to see the home side’s poor defending of such a situation, but it symbolised the lacklustre nature of David Moyes’ players throughout the game. Having been reluctant to foray forward in numbers, you expected more from them once they went behind, but the following 20 minutes before the referee blew for half-time saw them completely collapse. 

 

Saka broke the offside trap to win a penalty, and memories went back to the end of last season and his miss at this ground when his team were 2-1 ahead. This time, no mistake as the number 7 exorcised any demons he might have had and doubled the lead. Arsenal’s opener was an old school style goal and the third was similar, although this time Rice floated a free kick onto Gabriel’s head – he could hardly miss given the lack of challenge from Areola in the West Ham goal. Hammers fans started streaming for their half time drinks, but some decided to keep going and exit the stadium before the second half, as the visitors scored yet another. This time it was Trossard with all the space in the world after having been teed up by Odegaard. The home side’s defence were as non-existent as many of their fans by this point.

 

Footage of the exterior of the stadium showed many headed in the direction of Stratford station. Of course, Arsenal do have history for blowing a 4-0 half time lead, but as was pointed out by one friend that against Newcastle back in 2011, the team didn’t have a defence. I checked, and that game ended with a back four of Eboue, Squillaci, Koscielny and Clichy. Some memories are best not revisited…

 

The second half saw less intensity – West Ham had given up. I doubt they have played this badly under Moyes for a long, long time and there didn’t seem any explanation. It felt shocking that this team managed to beat Arsenal at the Emirates only a few weeks ago. But that’s football. 

There was a training ground feel to the second half. Saka made it five just after the hour – between two defenders in acres of space, it was just too easy. To rub salt in the wound Declan Rice scored the sixth from long range after an ‘after you’ mix-up between Odegaard and Trossard. It was the kind of day when even the Gunners’ mistakes created opportunities. 

Arteta started making subs at this point to give some players a runout. Elneny, Nketiah, Nelson, Cedric and Nwanieri all came on. Yes, it was the kind of game where you could put Cedric on. What his wages per minute played work out at over the last two years probably beggars belief. 

 

Arsenal were as imperious in winning this game as West Ham were abysmal. David Moyes’ team will have to regroup if they have any ambitions of qualifying for Europe again next season, but right now that feels like a long shot. For Gooners, the good news is that the triumph over Liverpool a week before was built upon. No point in winning such huge fixtures if you are not going to do the basics against lesser teams. With the amount of space allowed them, they made hay, and it is difficult to envisage they will have an easier match this season. The test now is to take their re-found ability to score forward and do the business against more organised sides.

 

One thing is certain. Life seems a lot better than it did after the Christmas period blip when 11 points out of 15 were conceded. Arsenal are back, they do need to keep winning to stay in touch with the other two title contenders, but they are at least in the mix. There is something to play for and some enjoyable football being played. Next up, another visit to a team sporting claret and blue – Burnley at 3pm next Saturday.

 

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