West Ham 2-5 Arsenal | Premier League | Highlights

Arsenal rose to second in the Premier League table with an absorbing 5-2 win over London rivals West Ham United at the London Stadium, a derby in which all seven goals were scored in the first half.

Briefly threatening to outdo last season's Hammers hammering, Arsenal stormed into a four-goal advantage through Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz before the hosts - missing the banned Julen Lopetegui from the touchline - threatened an almighty turnaround.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson Palmieri netted within three minutes of one another late in the first half, but Bukayo Saka's second penalty in as many games extinguished Irons' hopes of an improbable fightback and continued the Gunners' prolific post-international break revival.

Returning to the location of their 6-0 slaughter of David Moyes's crop in the 2023-24 campaign, the travelling Gooners may have momentarily believed that they had travelled back in time, as Arteta's men tore the hosts to shreds in the first half-hour.

A customary corner header from Gabriel, Trossard's tap-in, Odegaard's clinical penalty and Havertz's calm finish propelled Arsenal into a scarcely believable 4-0 lead, but the chaotic action was only just beginning, as West Ham suddenly threatened an astonishing turnaround through Wan-Bissaka and Emerson.

However, a second Gunners penalty was dispatched by Saka as the visitors arrested their collapse - just as they did against Sporting Lisbon - and the second half was unsurprisingly much more low-key than the frenzied first.

Arsenal were threatening to repeat their six-goal trick from their last visit to West Ham's turf, but the Irons belatedly found some defensive steel and did not give up in the final third either, although their efforts to complete an unbelievable comeback were futile.

Piling the pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City before Sunday's clash of the titans at Anfield, Arsenal have moved into the runners-up spot and have cut the gap to the Reds to six points, albeit having played a game more than Arne Slot's troops.

As for West Ham, whose defensive display in the opening 36 minutes was nothing short of shambolic, they reside in 14th place in the table after being immediately brought crashing back down to earth.