Mesut Ozil was the star as Arsenal demolished Bournemouth 5-1 in their biggest home win of the season.
Ozil, making his first league start in a month, took advantage of a fast start from the hosts to fire them ahead with less than four minutes on the clock before Henrikh Mkhitaryan doubled the lead from the German’s cutback just before the half-hour (27).
Bournemouth did look dangerous on the break but when they scored a comeback goal it owed everything to Matteo Guendouzi, who was caught in possession by Dan Gosling on the edge of his own box. The Bournemouth midfielder then fed Lys Mousset, who slotted beyond Bernd Leno to half the deficit (30).
After half-time, Arsenal turned on the style and restored their two-goal advantage when Laurent Koscielny turned Mkhitaryan’s cross after a quickly taken free-kick beyond Artur Boruc (47). Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then added a fourth with a goal straight from the vintage Arsene Wenger era, racing through from the halfway line before rounding the stranded goalkeeper (59).
There was still half an hour to go and the hosts did not let up, adding a fifth with 12 minutes remaining when substitute Alexandre Lacazette curled in a free-kick from 20 yards to cap a perfect night for Unai Emery, whose side kept their place in the top four with ease ahead of Saturday’s north London derby with Tottenham.