Bukayo Saka scored twice and Declan Rice found the net against his old club as Arsenal flexed their muscles in the Premier League title race with a thumping 6-0 win at West Ham United.
The Gunners' title bid hit the buffers in this fixture last season when they blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2.
There was no chance of a repeat after William Saliba headed them in front and West Ham promptly collapsed.
Rice grabbed a pair of assists on his return to his former club while Saka, Gabriel Magalhaes and Leandro Trossard were also on target, all before half time.
Saka scored his second midway through the second half and Rice rubbed salt in the wounds with a long-range sixth.
Arsenal are now level on points with second-placed Manchester City – who have a game in hand – and two points shy of leaders Liverpool
“We are maintaining and building some momentum now,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “After the Liverpool game [where they won 3-1] we had to show that we had that capacity to repeat that level or be better.
“Performances have been strong as well as results in recent weeks. We need to maintain that because other teams are doing that as well. We are not the only ones.”
On Rice's impressive return to the London Stadium, setting up Saliba and Gabriel with set-piece deliveries before scoring from 25 yards, Arteta said: “I'm really happy with him.
“I know that it was an emotional day for him because he loves West Ham so much. But he had to focus on the task and what he had to deliver – set pieces were one of those.”
When West Ham beat Arsenal and Manchester United in December, there was talk of a Champions League challenge from David Moyes' side.
They have lost to both in the past eight days, shipping nine goals in the process, and are still without a win in 2024.
It was a chastening afternoon for the Hammers and manager Moyes pulled no punches after his heaviest defeat in charge.
“It was a really poor day for us,” he said. “Arsenal played extremely well, give them credit, but it's difficult to explain how we played so poorly.
“We're normally a lot stronger, we didn't show that today. I'm disappointed with the way we fell apart when the game hadn't looked as if it was going to be as big as that.
“I don't think since I've come back to the club my team's defended that way, ever. We were weak today, we didn't do our jobs well enough, we didn't fight to contain it harder.”
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