Arsenal building momentum in Premier League title battle – Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta, centre left, and Arsenal celebrate victory over West Ham (Adam Davy/PA)
Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal are gaining momentum in the title race after they roared to a 6-0 win at West Ham.
The Gunners backed up last week’s big triumph over Liverpool with another statement victory, their biggest away win in the Premier League.
Their title bid hit the buffers in this fixture last season when they blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 but there was no chance of a repeat after William Saliba headed them in front and West Ham promptly collapsed.
Declan Rice, second left, shone as Arsenal routed his former club (Adam Davy/PA)
Declan Rice grabbed a pair of assists against his former club while Bukayo 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.
“We are maintaining and building some momentum now,” said Gunners boss Arteta.
“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.”
It was a chastening afternoon for West Ham and manager David Moyes pulled no punches after his heaviest defeat in charge.
“It was a really poor day for us, very difficult to explain really,” he said.
David Moyes’s side suffered a chastening defeat (Adam Davy/PA)
“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
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