With five goals in a chaotic first half against West Ham, Arsenal, led by Bukayo Saka, settled for a 5-2 victory that moved them up to second place in the English Premier League. Saka contributed to three goals scored by Gabriel, Leandro Trossard, and Martin Odegaard, and he was one of five goals scored by Arsenal in Saturday’s late game at the Olympic Stadium. The other goal in Arsenal’s largest league win of the season came from Kai Havertz.
Arsenal has surpassed West Ham by five goals after returning from the international break. They have also defeated Nottingham Forest 3-0 in the Premier League and Sporting Lisbon 5-1 in the Champions League. Arsenal’s captain and playmaker Odegaard, who lost two months due to an ankle injury, has returned to full condition at the same time as the productive run. Ahead of Sunday’s home game against struggling Manchester City, Arsenal closed the distance with Liverpool to six points.
All of the goals in the match were in the first half. It’s just the fourth time since the Premier League began in 1992 that seven goals were scored in a game before halftime.
Meanwhile, a day after being hired as Leicester manager, Ruud van Nistelrooy witnessed at first hand the scale of his task to keep the team in the Premier League.
Leicester were beaten at Brentford 4-1 on Saturday, with Van Nistelrooy sitting in the stands rather than in the dugout. He officially takes over as coach on Sunday after arriving as the replacement for the fired Steve Cooper.
