Alexis stars as Arsenal thump West Ham

Alexis Sanchez returned to scoring against Bournemouth after he went goal-less in four games in a row (both in the Premier League and in the Champions League).

“But I have to be honest and say we don’t have the intensity and from the dedication comes the quality”.

“He [Sanchez] gives you that speed in behind and he’s one of those players, like [Sergio] Aguero, who you get the ball up to and they make things happen”, he said.

This time Oxlade-Chamberlain played provider with the through ball which set Sanchez in on goal.

“He’s quick, he is hard to close down, he can dribble and has a killer instinct”. He has a killer instinct and it shows again that the South Americans, at the moment in world football, are the leading strikers. And you have to acknowledge that.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who scored Arsenal’s fourth goal, also picked up on the South American theme by comparing Sanchez to Manchester City’s Argentina striker Sergio Aguero. It was however enough to take the ball away from Sanchez, diving in behind but not able to get a proper connection on his effort. He’s an awesome player and it’s great to have in the team. He is one of the main reasons we were so prolific last season and versatile and unsafe.

A win for Hull in their match at Middlesbrough on Monday will send West Ham into the bottom three.

But the second goal arrived in the 72nd minute when Sanchez burst into the penalty area, brushing off Arthur Masuaku and Ogbonna before drilling his shot across Randolph and into the net. Arsenal finished the match with likely their best second half of the season.

But this an evening about Sanchez and his explosive brilliance more than it was about anything else.

Arsenal have conceded five goals across their last two league meetings with West Ham; as many as they had in their previous nine beforehand.

“You have to think about our recent form and our recent form in the Premier League is giving me confidence, belief and hope that we are going to do well tomorrow”.

However it didn’t take long for the visitors to get into first gear, and they proved critical as they took the lead 24 minutes in.

“When they walk home with the ball under their arm it is a good feeling”.

Theo Walcott deflected a header just over the bar, he then failed to sort his feet out when almost played through one-on-one and Sanchez continued to threaten with his relentless movement, both in drifting deep and looking to spin in behind. It’s a bit like when we moved to the Emirates.

During the game, having gone 2-0 down with under 20 minutes to go, Hammers boss Slaven Bilic did what a lot of managers would do by throwing on a big man up front to lead the line and try to salvage something from the contest.

Dimitri Payet again orchestrated most of their attacks and kept them in the game when it seems Arsenal were taking all the trinkets Sanchez was all motion and deserved better support and passes.

Mattias is ESPN FC’s Arsenal correspondent.