11 earth-shattering stats from Arsenal’s madcap 5-2 win over West Ham
Arsenal moved up to second in the Premier League table after a thumping 5-2 win at West Ham on Saturday evening.
Having won 6-0 in the same fixture last season, Mikel Arteta’s side travelled across London with confidence but were facing opponents buoyed by their victory over Newcastle last time out.
Any optimism engineered by the Hammers a week ago was extinguished during a madcap first-half which saw Arsenal go 4-0 up.
Gabriel headed the Gunners into the lead from a pinpoint Bukayo Saka corner and it was Saka who provided Leandro Trossard with a killer pass to double the advantage.
A spot-kick from Martin Odegaard and a cool finish from Kai Havertz sent the away fans into raptures, but West Ham quickly pulled goals back through Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson.
Arteta was furious by his side’s complacency and his temper was only improved by Saka converting their second penalty after a foul on Gabriel by former Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
Seven goals were scored in the first half, but none after the interview as Arsenal eased to their third victory in a week. Here are 11 stats from an extraordinary game in east London.
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– Since the start of last season, Arsenal’s 20 goals from corners and Gabriel’s five from corners are both the most by a team and a single player in the Premier League.
– Gabriel has scored 17 league goals since joining Arsenal in 2020 – six more than the next defender has managed (Kurt Zouma).
– This match became only the fourth Premier League game to see seven goals in the first half, after Blackburn vs. Leeds in September 1997, Bradford vs. Derby in April 2000, and Reading vs. Manchester United in December 2012.
– Arsenal became the first team to score four or more goals in the first half in back-to-back games against the same opponent in Premier League history after scoring four against West Ham in February 2024.
– And the Gunners have become the first team to score 60 away goals against a single opponent in Premier League history.
– Saka has 10 assists in Arsenal’s 13 Premier League games this term; only Cesc Fabregas in 2014-15 (12), Mesut Ozil in 2015-16 (12), & Harry Kane in 2020-21 (11) have reached 10 assists in fewer of a team’s games from the start of a season in the competition.
– He has become the first player in Europe’s top five leagues to provide 10 league assists this season and has done so in just 12 matches.
– The England winger joins Mohamed Salah as the only two players this season to have scored and assisted in four different Premier League games this season.
– Saka and Salah are also the only two players who have been directly involved in 15+ Premier League goals this season.
– In Saka and Odegaard, Arsenal have had two different penalty scorers in the first half of a Premier League game for the first time ever in their history.
– Arsenal have now won 36 away points in the Premier League in 2024, more than any other team.