Alexis Sanchez's hat trick, along with goals from Mesut Ozil and Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain, ensured Arsene Wenger's side kept in touch with
league leaders Chelsea.
Today's haul saw Sanchez tie Diego Costa as the top scorer in the
league with 11 goals this season. Sanchez has thrived since switching
from the left wing to center forward at the beginning of the
campaign.
"He has all the ingredients to be a top-class striker and showed
that again today," Wenger said. "He's quick, he can
dribble, has a short back-lift and a killer instinct."
For Wenger, it was "a strong team performance with very few weak
periods - the only regret was that we didn't take our chances in the
first half."
A fifth straight league match without victory will increase the
pressure on West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, but his side's lack of
intensity against a London rival appeared to annoy him even more than
the result.
"Somewhere along the line we lost intensity in training, we have
to bring that back, without that we can't rely on quality," the
former Croatia manager said.
"We were humiliated - I want to say sorry to the fans and
everybody who has anything to do with West Ham United, because it was
really bad."
The visitors were afforded too much space in the final third from the
outset at the London Stadium, with West Ham not helped by James
Collins' muscle injury forcing the introduction of Alvaro Arbeloa
after just seven minutes.
Arsenal wasted a handful of opportunities in the opening stages,
before the ever-reliable duo of Sanchez and Ozil produced decisive
contributions.
Chile forward Sanchez raced through before squaring for Ozil to tap
home in the 24th.
Arsenal was never taken out of its comfort zone before Sanchez
produced a moment of magic to double the lead in the 72nd.
The striker received the ball outside the box on the left with little
danger apparent before spinning Arthur Masuaku, skipping away from
Angelo Ogbonna and driving low past West Ham goalkeeper Darren
Randolph into the bottom corner.
Sanchez's first strike triggered a spate of five goals in 15 minutes,
as he beat the helpless Randolph once more with unerring accuracy as
the ball fell to him on the edge of the box in the 80th.
Just three minutes later Andy Carroll grabbed a consolation on his
return from injury before Oxlade-Chamberlain got in on the act,
curling the ball in from outside the box for 4-1.
Sanchez had the final word as he completed his hat trick with a
sublime dummy and dinked finish to move Arsenal up to second in the
Premier League, three points behind Chelsea.
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