If Arsenal were pining for a glimpse of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang at his peak, they were given it by a youngster who has patently learned from the best. Gabriel Martinelli’s form has been fitful since he returned from injury a year ago but this was his best all-round performance under Mikel Arteta and he crowned it in a fashion that felt eerily familiar. When Alexandre Lacazette threaded a cutely weighted pass through the inside-left channel three minutes into the second half, Martinelli took a touch before wrapping his right foot around the ball and snaking it past Lukasz Fabianski.
Remind you of anyone? Such finishes have been Aubameyang’s stock in trade but here Arsenal looked more than capable of moving on from their deposed captain, dropped for the second successive game. Once proceedings had settled down they outclassed a disappointingly muted West Ham and showed that life does not begin and end with conjecture over Mikel Arteta’s iron fist. It puts them fourth, having leapfrogged their visitors, and while games in hand for Spurs and Manchester United mean they occupy that spot with an asterisk there is no doubt that displays of this quality are the key to a long-term stay.
