West Ham vs. Arsenal: Score and Reaction from 2016 Premier League Match

Arsenal cruised to a routine win over West Ham United on Saturday, winning their Premier League fixture 5-1, with Alexis Sanchez bagging a hat-trick.

Mesut Ozil gave the visitors the lead in the first half, and Sanchez added two quick goals after the break to secure the three points. Andy Carroll got a consolation goal for the Hammers, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also managed a late strike. Sanchez completed his hat-trick in the dying minutes.

As Arsenal's official Twitter account shared, Granit Xhaka got the chance to start, while Aaron Ramsey took a spot on the bench:

The match started in disastrous fashion for the hosts, who lost James Collins to injury after just a few minutes.

Nacho Monreal fired a great cross into the box, with none of his team-mates able to guide it home. It was clear from the start the Gunners were the better side. Monreal found plenty of success, and another one of his balls into the box found Ozil, who couldn't convert the chance.

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Oxlade-Chamberlain couldn't get a cross past Darren Randolph, as the visitors kept up the pressure. But on a rare counter, Mark Noble sent Manuel Lanzini through on goal, and the forward fired the best early chance of the match into the side netting.

The miss proved costly, as Ozil opened the score shortly after. Angelo Ogbonna comically gave the ball away to Francis Coquelin, and Sanchez eventually laid it off to the Germany international for an easy tap-in.

Per Match of the Day, Ozil's scoring record in 2016-17 is impressive:

Oxlade-Chamberlain should have crossed a ball into Theo Walcott, who was in fantastic position to make it 2-0 minutes after the opening goal, but the winger tried his own luck and missed the goal by some distance.

West Ham threatened with a few crosses, but the best chances kept falling to the Gunners. Sanchez was played in and rounded the goalkeeper, but he took his run too wide and ran out of space to finish.

Meanwhile, the away fans were having fun, per Bleacher Report UK:

Pedro Obiang couldn't keep his header on target, and while the Hammers ended the half on top, Arsenal comfortably survived.

The Gunners nearly started the second half in perfect fashion, as Walcott headed over an Ozil free-kick. West Ham kept up the pressure, however, and on the other side of the pitch, Ashley Fletcher narrowly missed the target.

Arsenal invited trouble by not putting West Ham away earlier, and Sanchez kept motivating his team-mates to attack, firing narrowly wide from the edge of the box after 62 minutes. The Hammers were in charge at this point, though, and Petr Cech had to be alert to deal with a header from Fletcher.

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Ogbonna redeemed his earlier mistake with a superb block on Ozil, and Randolph came up huge with a tremendous double save, stopping both substitute Ramsey and Ozil. 

Even Arsenal's official Twitter account was impressed:

Three minutes later, Sanchez finally scored the liberating second goal. The Chilean did it all himself, turning toward freedom before slotting home and earning praise from former England international Gary Lineker:

Oxlade-Chamberlain had a shot deflected just wide, with Arsenal pushing for more goals as the match wore down. Sanchez couldn't pick out a team-mate with a cross, but he found more success when he attempted another ambitious shot, firing home a beauty to make it 3-0.

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The Gunners had barely finished celebrating when substitute Carroll pulled one back for the hosts, powering home a rebound after Dimitri Payet hit the cross bar. The back-and-forth continued, with Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring the third goal in a span of minutes.

A number of substitutions finally gave the fans the chance to catch their breaths, but not for long, as Sanchez completed his hat-trick in stunning fashion with a dinked finish. Bleacher Report UK couldn't help themselves:

Per the club's official Twitter account, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger reserved special praise for his hat trick hero:

Arsenal's next outing will be the UEFA Champions League fixture against FC Basel on Tuesday, while West Ham will visit Liverpool in their next Premier League fixture.