FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Well, that was fun!
Arsenal are very much in the title race and their thoughts now turn to Wednesday and Manchester United at Emirates Stadium.
As for West Ham, it's off to Leicester for Ruud van Nistelrooy's first game in charge of the Foxes.
Where is their season heading under Julen Lopetegui?
Catch you soon.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty ImagesFT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live
On a centre forward, you have to trust Mikel Arteta and last season you came so close.
The question has always been with Arsenal, in tight games, do they have a natural goal scorer who wins games? They've tried with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
With Arsenal now it looks like they're hitting form.
Good for them, title race on.
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, speaking to Sky Sports about Gabriel's goal: "In the first-half, there is one player that bumped into the back of [Lucas] Paqueta with the only intention that he can't jump. The first goal was key but the stuff after are things that we can do better. Sometimes we prepare for matches and we don't know what is allowed or not. The rules have to be the same for all of us."
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
West Ham's Jarrod Bowen, speaking to Sky Sports about Arsenal's dominance: "There was a lot down to us, how we were without the ball and a couple of mistakes as a team. Set-pieces we worked hard knowing they were a threat. Two penalties and they're just frustrating goals to concede.
"We were fighting back and we got to 4-2. I felt if we got in at half-time at 4-2 then there was an opportunity."
On the second half: "Then in the second half we had a go. The fans were brilliant, but ultimately we weren't good enough. The positive is we play in 72 hours and games are coming up thick and fast. Tomorrow is a new day and it is all focus towards Leicester."
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live
Arsenal are growing on me.
With Martin Odegaard back in the team, they are a different team.
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, speaking to BBC MOTD: "Today was a top performance from us and we scored a lot of goals - we are playing good football right now and we want to continue like this. We are back to our best form. We look fluid and dynamic we are all enjoying football right now."
On Martin Odegaard taking the first penalty: "He asked me for the ball, he wanted to score. He gives me a lot of balls so it is nice to return that to him."
On this week's performances: "It has been a top week for us. We have built a lot of momentum and we want to go on to the next few games."
On Liverpool v Man City: "What will be, will be. We have to do our thing, they have to play and let's just enjoy the game."
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui, speaking to BBC MOTD: "Overall, I am frustrated in the first half. We deserved two goals, but they didn't deserve five. We were unlucky in the decisions, in my opinion. The first goal I think it was a block."
On Lukasz Fabianksi fouling Gabriel in the box: "I think it was a bit soft. We were unlucky. We have to do better for sure. We didn't take good decisions in a defensive way - that's why it was a strange match. The team showed character to compete.
"We were unlucky with the decisions today. We asked before the match, the referee with the block, as a coach we have to know the limit. This week we have to do better in our individual actions in a defensive way."
On watching from the stands: "It is always difficult to not stay on the bench because you can't help the team and I was very frustrated."
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Image source, Rex FeaturesArsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports: "I was happier with the first 30 minutes rather than the last 15 minutes of the first-half that's for sure. We started incredibly well, so positive, so much energy and a lot of quality.
"Immediately after we scored the fourth we conceded a sloppy one and an unbelievable free-kick and then it was game on. Thank goodness we scored the fifth and then that allowed us to play a different game in the second-half and manage it a lot more."
On Bukayo Saka's form: "He has been really consistent with scoring, assisting and always being available for us so, really good."
On the title race: "We had to do our job and we've done it today in a really convincing way. Tomorrow we will enjoy the match [Liverpool-Manchester City] - a beautiful game of football."
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images#bbcfootball, WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (UK only, standard message rates apply)
The Changingman: Well done to the West Ham fans that stayed after the 36th minute, and especially those that stayed until the final whistle. It must have been painful but you should support your team through thick and thin. Unbelievable that some left after 36 minutes.
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Image source, Getty ImagesArsenal's Jurrien Timber, speaking to Sky Sports: "It was fun to play in. We scored a lot of goals and it's always fun to score a lot of goals.
"We showed some really great football, we just need to keep this momentum going because we have a really tough game to come against Man United [on Wednesday].
"We have a big squad with a lot of good players and I think we showed that last week and again this week with different players in the starting line-up."
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Emma Smith
BBC Sport at London Stadium
Image source, Getty ImagesScoring 10 goals in two games across four days, winning two games which on paper looked like tricky away fixtures. It is fair to say Arsenal are back in the saddle after a difficult spell, as they move six points off the top of the Premier League.
It is no surprise that their return to form has coincided with the return to fitness of Martin Odegaard. The Gunners have not lost a Premier League match in which their Norwegian captain has featured since last April.
The form of Bukayo Saka is also key to their hopes. He claimed a goal and two assists in a brilliant first half showing here. Saka has now been directly involved in 15 Premier League goals this season. Only Mo Salah can claim more.
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 Live
I just wonder has Martin Odegaard been as big a miss to Arsenal as Rodri to Manchester City?
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Arsenal are the best team I have seen this season in the Premier League. They are now back to full strength and in devastating form. I see them going on to win the title!
Brendan, Kansas City, USA
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Image source, Getty ImagesArsenal boss Mikel Arteta, speaking to BBC MOTD: "We made it crazy, we played so well at the start of the game. We scored three early goals and then they score one immediately after kick-off and then another one - then it was game on.
"We have to manage the game - we did that really well. The last two games were tricky and to score goals is a big one."
On the balance of the team: "We knew before the game we were going to make substitutions because of the state of players, but we have to manage that. Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko come in, Jorginho was excellent. I am very pleased."
On the second half: "The message was to not relax and to go for more."
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Emma Smith
BBC Sport at London Stadium
Before the game, optimism abounded at West Ham after their impressive win at Newcastle on Monday. The on-field announcers, sporting Christmas jumpers, were confident of a win.
That optimism was shot to pieces by an opening 35 minutes in which Arsenal were at times irresistible, but where West Ham were often their own worst enemies.
The marking for Gabriel's opener was sloppy, Lucas Paqueta's lazy trip on Bukayo Saka conceded a penalty, and it was 0-4 when Max Kilman failed to intercept a route one ball.
It meant West Ham never really looked likely to register back to back Premier League wins for the first time since March.
Manager Julen Lopetegui bought himself time with the Newcastle win, and the fans largely held off on booing in favour of backing the team.
But the Hammers cannot afford too many more hammerings like this.
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
West Ham's next three Premier League games:
3 December: Away v Leicester City
9 December: Home v Wolves
16 December: Away v Bournemouth.
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Where are West Ham heading under Julen Lopetegui?
This was their fourth Premier League home defeat under the Spaniard, who only took charge in May.
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Coming from an Arsenal fan, Wan-Bissaka is better than all the full-backs at Man Utd. Decent performance. Thanks for the three points though.
TT
FT: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal
Arsenal have scored five or more goals in five different away games in all competitions in 2024, the joint-most in a single calendar year by an English top-flight side, along with Sunderland in 1892 and Manchester City in 1937.
11 February: West Ham 0-6 Arsenal (Premier League)
17 February: Burnley 0-5 Arsenal (Premier League)
4 March: Sheffield United 0-6 Arsenal (Premier League)
26 November: Sporting 1-5 Arsenal (Champions League)
30 November: West Ham 2-5 Arsenal (Premier League)
Gabriel (right) scored in the second successive match for Arsenal, after netting against Sporting in midweek
Arsenal moved second in the Premier League after a frenetic victory over West Ham at London Stadium in which seven goals were scored in the first half.
The Gunners led after 10 minutes when centre-back Gabriel flicked home Bukayo Saka's corner at the near post after escaping loose West Ham marking.
And the lead was doubled after 27 minutes when Leandro Trossard finished a flowing Arsenal move from close range. Saka was again the provider, played in by a chipped Martin Odegaard through ball before squaring to Trossard to finish.
Then followed a frantic period of four goals in six minutes, started by Odegaard making it three shortly following the hour mark from the penalty spot after Saka was tripped in the area by Lucas Paqueta.
And Arsenal went 4-0 up after 36 minutes when a long ball was missed by home defender Max Kilman, allowing Kai Havertz to finish one-on-one past beleagured goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
West Ham responded when right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka scored his second goal in consecutive games with a near-post finish, before left-back Emerson reduced the arrears to 4-2 with a magnificent free-kick that crashed in off the crossbar.
But Arsenal restored their three-goal lead with a second penalty, this time netted by Saka for his first away league goal of the season after Fabianski accidentally punched Gabriel while trying to clear a corner.
This was only the fourth time in Premier League history that seven goals have been scored in the first half of a game - but there were none after the break as Arsenal comfortably saw out the win.
Victory moves Mikel Arteta's side six points behind leaders Liverpool, who face third-place Manchester City on Sunday (16:00 GMT).
West Ham remain 14th in the table, six points above the relegation zone.
While Arteta's team are known for their flowing football, their prowess from set-pieces this season is proving invaluable.
Before his opening goal, Gabriel was seen in deep discussions with corner taker Saka, before passing on various instructions and hand signals to team-mates in the box.
It paid off once again for Arsenal, who have unlocked a rich scoring outlet in Gabriel.
It is the Brazilian's third Premier League goal of the season, taking him joint second for Arsenal in the top flight.
The centre-back netted against Sporting in the Champions League midweek, and Arteta would have been delighted that he shook off a knock which meant he was substituted in Portugal.
He would have been less delighted by having to sub Gabriel at half-time after he was caught by Fabianski, and the loose Arsenal defending which allowed West Ham back into the match with two goals in three minutes. Such sloppiness could undermine their ambitions to be Liverpool's main title challengers this season.
But he could have no complaints about the finishing, which meant Arsenal ended a run of four away league games without victory.
After a deserved win on Monday at Newcastle restored optimism to West Ham and lifted pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui, the chaos of the first half here wiped that good feeling away.
A perfect piece of pathetic fallacy was witnessed as a balmy November day in east London gave way to driving rain in the first half as goal after Arsenal goal hit the Hammers net.
Lopetegui, sat high in the London Stadium seating because of a touchline ban for three yellow cards, looked dejected as his side were ripped apart.
There were some bright moments - Crysencio Summerville brilliantly chipped David Raya on 17 minutes after being set through one-on-one, but he was belatedly flagged offside.
And his side still largely have the support of the fans, who roared the team on as they scored quick goals at the end of the first half.
But as they have been against the leading Premier League sides this season, West Ham were outclassed. They have lost all six games against teams in the top eight.
There were plenty of white seats by the end, with fans who remained groaning as Danny Ings rounded Raya but shot across the face of goal.
After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points | Form, Last 6 games, Oldest first |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 24 | 8 | 16 | 31 |
| |
| 2 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 14 | 12 | 25 |
| |
| 3 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 22 | 17 | 5 | 23 |
| |
| 4 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 17 | 5 | 23 |
| |
| 5 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 23 | 14 | 9 | 22 |
| |
| 6 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 22 |
| |
| 7 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 26 | 23 | 3 | 20 |
| |
| 8 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 27 | 13 | 14 | 19 |
| |
| 9 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| |
| 10 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 19 |
| |
| 11 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 1 | 18 |
| |
| 12 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 18 |
| |
| 13 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 16 |
| |
| 14 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 24 | -7 | 15 |
| |
| 15 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 17 | -7 | 11 |
| |
| 16 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 16 | 27 | -11 | 10 |
| |
| 17 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 18 | -7 | 9 |
| |
| 18 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 22 | 32 | -10 | 9 |
| |
| 19 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 24 | -11 | 9 |
| |
| 20 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 25 | -15 | 5 |
|
Manager: Pablo Sanz
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Manager: Pablo Sanz
Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1
Manager: Mikel Arteta
Formation: 4 - 3 - 3
Premier League
All competitions
All competitions
All competitions
West Ham have lost more Premier League games overall (36) and at home (15) against Arsenal than they have vs any other opponent in the competition.
Arsenal have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League away games against West Ham (W10 D5), winning this exact fixture 6-0 last season.
West Ham have lost their last two home London derbies in the Premier League, going down 2-0 against Fulham and 3-0 against Chelsea. They last lost three in a row in December 2019, while they last did so without scoring in December 2008 – both runs included defeat to Arsenal.
Since the start of 2022-23, Arsenal have lost just two of their 26 London derby matches in the Premier League (W18 D6). One of these was against West Ham, which was the only one of the 26 games in which they’ve failed to score (0-2 in December 2023).
West Ham have earned seven points from their last three Premier League home games (W2 D1), as many as they had from their previous nine at the London Stadium (W1 D4 L4).
Having won 10 of their first 11 Premier League away games in 2024 (D1), Arsenal are now winless in their last four on the road (D2 L2). It’s their longest such run without a win since a run of seven between December 2019 and June 2020, the final six games of which were Mikel Arteta’s first in charge of the Gunners away from home.
Following their 2-0 win at Newcastle last time out, West Ham are looking to pick up consecutive Premier League victories for the first time since March. Meanwhile, they could keep three consecutive clean sheets for the first time since a run of four in December/January last season, the third game of which was a 2-0 win over Arsenal.
No player has scored more Premier League goals for West Ham this season than Tomás Soucek (3). 17 of his last 18 strikes for the Hammers have either put them one goal ahead (12) or drawn them level (5) in the match.
Bukayo Saka has been involved in 21 goals in his last 25 London derby matches in the Premier League (9 goals, 12 assists), including five in his last six against West Ham. Overall he has 28 goal involvements in such matches (13 goals, 15 assists), with only four players registering more for Arsenal (Thierry Henry 55, Dennis Bergkamp 38, Robin van Persie 33, Ian Wright 32).
Only Mohamed Salah (16) has been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (12 – 4 goals, 8 assists). Indeed, Saka has both scored and assisted in three different games this term, with only Salah again doing so more (4).
