West Ham 1-5 ArsenalHome team scorersAndy Carroll 83
Away team scorersMesut Ozil 24
Alexis Sanchez 72
Alexis Sanchez 80
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 84
Alexis Sanchez 86
By the time Alexis Sánchez scuttled through the middle to complete West Ham United’s humiliation and claim his hat-trick with a beautiful dink, Arsenal had produced enough moments of class to underline their title credentials.
A 5-1 victory sparked by Mesut Özil ended with the other maestro in Arsenal’s attack running riot at the expense of West Ham, who were left to fret about a long battle against relegation. There was little Slaven Bilic’s sorry side could do to contain Arsenal in this mood. Arsène Wenger’s side barely had to break sweat as they rose into second place in the Premier League, three points behind Chelsea.
It was not long before Arsenal were spreading anxiety in West Ham’s defence, seeking to capitalise on the injury to James Collins that forced Bilic to switch from a back three to a back four after seven minutes. Álvaro Arbeloa came on for his first appearance since October and the veteran right-back looked unsurprisingly rusty as Nacho Monreal raced behind him on several occasions. With West Ham’s midfield struggling to cope with Özil’s floating movement, Arsenal threatened whenever they attacked and almost took the lead when Monreal attempted to find Sánchez with a low cutback from the byline, only for Winston Reid to divert the ball away from the Chilean.
Shkodran Mustafi was inches away from turning in Laurent Koscielny’s flicked header at the far post and the sense of foreboding amongst the home supporters was palpable. West Ham’s resilience was built on shaky foundations and it must have exasperated Bilic to see one of his more experienced players gift Arsenal the opening goal in the 24th minute.
Angelo Ogbonna was far too casual with his attempt to play out from the back and West Ham were horribly exposed when Francis Coquelin’s interception of the centre-back’s pass ran to Sánchez, who beat a feeble challenge from Reid and drew goalkeeper Darren Randolph forward before unselfishly setting up Özil for a simple finish. Arsenal deserved their lead, although it might have frustrated Wenger that they had not given Randolph a sterner examination in West Ham’s goal, ruining promising moves with a touch too much elaboration in the final third at times.
Their generosity gave West Ham hope. Yet the hosts were giving the ball away with alarming frequency, too often playing themselves into trouble, and Manuel Lanzini was guilty of hesitancy on the one occasion when Arsenal switched off during the first half. The game was still goalless when Dimitri Payet spotted Lanzini running into a huge gap between Koscielny and Mustafi, releasing the Argentinian with an inch perfect pass. Yet Lanzini got himself into a muddle, ignored Edimilson Fernandes in space to his right and eventually shot too near Petr Cech from a tight angle, allowing Arsenal’s goalkeeper to save at his near post.
It was difficult to argue when the stadium announcer introduced Marlon Harewood, who scored the winner in this fixture 10 years ago, by joking that “there aren’t many natural goalscorers at West Ham”. They were often reduced to hopeful long punts towards the inexperienced Ashley Fletcher, who was crying out for more support up front, but West Ham’s lengthy injury list undermined their efforts. Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell, Cheikhou Kouyaté and Diafra Sakho were all unavailable. All of them would have been useful.
At least Andy Carroll was on the bench after recovering from the injury that has kept him out since August and it was unsurprising to see him being put through his paces during the break. The striker’s return was timely, bearing in mind his rampaging hat-trick against Arsenal in April, although Bilic waited before bringing him on, introducing André Ayew just after the hour instead.
West Ham had warmed to their task by that point, threatening when Fletcher turned and fired inches wide from 18 yards, and Arsenal increasingly found themselves playing on the break. The game turned into a physical scrap, which was more to West Ham’s liking than Arsenal’s, and Wenger was concerned enough to replace the ineffective Theo Walcott with Aaron Ramsey. Arsenal’s dip in intensity was a reminder that they often find it hard to control games without the subtlety of the injured Santi Cazorla, although Özil and Ramsey both brought the best out of Randolph.
When Carroll replaced Mark Noble, however, Arsenal were celebrating their second goal. It was all down to the individual brilliance of Sánchez, who barrelled past Arthur Masuaku before hammering a fearsome low drive beyond Randolph with 18 minutes left.
The fight drained from West Ham and Sánchez’s second goal, expertly drilled past Randolph from 20 yards in the 80th minute, sparked a mass exodus in the home stands. Carroll pulled one back with a late header after Payet’s free-kick hit the post, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain added Arsenal’s fourth with a fine drive from 25 yards. Sánchez would rub further salt into the wound.
Guardian
