Key things we learned from West Ham 2-5 Arsenal

Arsenal extend their winning streak after an eye-catching first half performance in a goal-fest at the London Stadium.
 

The Gunners move to second place in the table after securing three points in the London derby against West Ham.

Here are key things we learned from the game:
 

Setting the tone from the start

Similarly to the previous last two games against Nottingham Forest and Sporting CP, Arsenal started the game dominantly with aggressive pressing. The Gunners gave West Ham no space and squeezed them on their half for more than 30 minutes.

Particularly, the goal from Leandro Trossard was a sign of free-flowing Arsenal following a nice combination on the right-hand side between Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka.

Arsenal captain later on converted the penalty into his first goal of the season while Havertz finished his one-on-one against Lukasz Fabianski to make it 0-4.

Arsenal underlined their dominance with four goals in the space of 26 minutes and demonstrated a lesson in efficiency as five of their six shots on target ended in the net.

Even though the Hammers scored two impressive goals right after each other, Arsenal reacted with Saka's goal from the penalty spot, grabbed the momentum back on their side, and controlled the game for the rest of the match.
 

Saka's brilliance yet again

Following a terrific performance in the Champions League against Sporting CP, the Arsenal winger raised the bar even higher.

Saka continues in excellent form after registering his fifth Premier League goal and another two assists and became the first player in the top five leagues to have 10+ assists this season.

The England international is currently at the halfway to break Thierry Henry's assist record in the Premier League. With his exceptional set piece deliveries and enormous threat around the box, Saka has a fair chance to finally beat Henry's mark.

However, it is not only about the assists for Arsenal Starboy. Saka also has five goals under his belt and, alongside Kai Havertz, is Arsenal's top goal scorer in the league right now. Saka embraced the leadership role and once again showed his remarkable quality and decisiveness.

Set piece monsters

Gabriel's opener yesterday was Arsenal's 20th and Gabriel's fifth goal from corners since the beginning of the last season, the most by a team and a player in the Premier League.

The Brazilian has also scored the most Premier League goals by defenders since his debut in the league in 2020, which shows his unbelievable threat in the box and Arsenal's massive improvement in this area over the last few seasons.

Since the appointment of a set piece coach, Nicolas Jover, Arsenal turned set pieces and especially corners into one of their biggest weapons. Jover implemented different variations and signals that now look impossible to defend.

Both set piece takers, Saka and Declan Rice, mastered the execution to perfection and know exactly how and where to hit the ball. The rest of the team has specific roles to either block the goalkeeper or opponents to free the space for finishers to score.

Building the momentum

"I think we have some flow back," were Mikel Arteta's words from the post-match press conference regarding Arsenal's growing form.

Arsenal are slowly getting back to their best form as both performances on the pitch and results are improving. The return of Ødegaard has significantly increased the quality recently and boosted Arsenal's chances to win trophies this season.

The Gunners have scored 13 goals in their last three games, which indicates notable growth in productivity.

Rising form ahead of a very busy schedule is definitely positive since Arsenal will play seven games in December, starting with Manchester United at home on Wednesday evening.