Well what a result that was for The Arsenal yesterday, eh? It was a performance that had everything: control, goals, returning player narratives, screamers, ole’s from the away fans, the lot. If you ask me what the perfect away day looks like, it would be what those Arsenal players delivered at the London Stadium in the afternoon yesterday, which was a rousing display which also pumps up our goal difference to where City and Liverpool are.

But it might not have been that simple. Yesterday I wrote about how concerned we might be with West Ham playing a low block and stifling us. I pondered about the value of an early goal and when the team news came out an hour before kick off, I’ll admit to having some slight concerns with a few unknown injuries. Tomiyasu was not available, Zinny was out which we already knew, but ESR had twisted his ankle in training and Gabriel Jesus was still not ready to play. Jorginho too had been carrying a knock and so he would be making up the numbers on a bench that looked very light. If this was to be a tight encounter in which the bench was needed to do something different, there wasn’t a lot of options, which worried me.

I needn’t have had that worry though. Arsenal delivered in spades and although the first 30 minutes was cagey and we didn’t get our first goal until Saliba nodded in on 32 at the back post, after that goal was scored Arsenal went on a rampant 35 minute spell in which everything they touched seemed to turn to gold. After Saliba’s goal came the Saka penalty to double the lead and although there was a few seconds to check if he was offside or not, as soon as it was given I was transported back to Saka missing the penalty last season. “Are we going to get Deja Vu?” I thought.

Nope. Saka tucked it away well and you have to say it is a mark of the kid’s cajones because he could have easily have handed it to the skipper Odegaard to take it. But he wanted it, he dispatched it, then it was about whether we would continue to dominate the game or whether West Ham would peg us back like they did last season.

They could not.

This is an Arsenal team made of sterner stuff; it is built with a defensive stability in mind and the introduction of Declan Rice is a big part of what makes us so strong this season. His return to the London Stadium in the League Cup was not a happy one and over Christmas at The Emirates he didn’t have the best of games and also conceded a late penalty. But this time around there was to be no repeat of Rice not having a good game and not only was he controlling in midfield, his set piece distribution led to two assists (with a very good free kick for the header from Gabriel for our third) and the pick of the bunch by leathering the ball in for our sixth of the day too. He didn’t celebrate out of respect for West Ham, but inside he would have been delighted with the goal and the finish.

That goal was number six, but by half time it was all over really, as Trossard had made it four with a brilliant finish after some good confined space footwork inside the box. I thought Trossard too had a great game. He got himself an assist of sorts with the ball to Saka for the penalty, he was generally a nuisance for West Ham all day and his goal wrapped up the points before a ball had been kicked in the second half. There was reference made to the 4-4 against Newcastle all those years ago, but this is a very different Arsenal team to that one that surrendered a lead like it did, because as I’ve already mentioned this team is built on a solid defensive foundation and whilst we know we can be pegged back we also know that this defence has shown it knows how to shut out a team. That clean sheet meant we are now the team with the least goals conceded this season and we have two clean sheets in our last four games.

The fifth was scored by Saka and at that point it felt like West Ham had effectively given up. For Bukayo’s second the West Ham ‘keeper Areola didn’t even dive. West Ham looked despondent, out of ideas and if there was such a thing as being able to throw in the towel at football matches, Moyes would have done that. But there isn’t and we are glad, because we’d have been robbed of the best goal of the day from Rice and an absolute screamer that is sure to get on the February Goal of the Month competition for Match of the Day and other outlets that ask audiences to vote. I was thinking the other day that I couldn’t remember the last time we scored a screamer from outside of the box, but now we have our answer. That’s nine goal contributions (four goals and five assists) for Rice this season, which equals his tally he got for West Ham in all competitions last season, where he scored five and assisted four in all competitions. Based on the number of games left to go, you’d hope he’d smash that tally this season and if he brings his shooting boots like that to more games, we’ll get a few more screamers too.

The fact we were so rapid in bagging the goals also meant we could see the likes of Nwaneri get on the pitch. He’s a 16-year-old kid and he’s stroking the ball around like a 29-year-old pro. He looks a real talent and Arteta even said that the players themselves were whispering whether he’d be able to get Ethan on the pitch. A lovely moment for him to get his second appearance, even if he did have to share the pitch with Cedric. You know Arteta is bantering everyone off when the Portuguese right back is getting minutes under his belt. But I guess it’s all good because it meant we could bring off the likes of White and rest some of those players up in prep for Burnley and then Porto next weekend and midweek.

We keep marching, we keep scoring, we keep winning. Let’s hope Arsenal bring those same vibes to Turf Moor next weekend.

Catch you all tomorrow.