Arsenal secured a 3-0 win over West Ham United after scoring twice late on in their Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium this afternoon.
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Theo Walcott came close to giving the home side an early lead when he got the ball in space on the edge of the box, but he waited too long to get the shot away, giving West Ham time to clear.
Alexis Sanchez forced a save from Adrian after Calum Chambers crossed the ball in from the right, but the Chilean's finish did not get the better of the keeper.
David Ospina also had to be alert as Matt Jarvis set up Kevin Nolan down the other end just a couple of minutes later, but his half-volley was parried away.
Arsenal continued to look the more likely in the opening 45 minutes, but the visiting keeper pulled of a series of saves to deny further efforts from Walcott and Sanchez, as well as a strike from Aaron Ramsey.
The deadlock was broken in first-half stoppage time, though, as Olivier Giroud blasted the ball in from a Mesut Ozil pass, putting the Gunners ahead going into the break.
The visitors almost drew level shortly after the restart as Stewart Downing whipped the ball in from a corner, but Matt Jarvis fired high.
Arsenal soon started to dominate again, and could have doubled their lead when Ozil chipped the ball forward for Walcott to set up Ramsey to slice a shot wide.
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He made amends a few minutes later as Giroud found him with a through ball, leaving Ramsey to drill the ball past Adrian from the centre of the penalty area.
The Gunners added a third just three minutes later when Mathieu Flamini found the back of the net with his first touch just moments after coming off the bench, bursting forward to tap in from a Santi Cazorla delivery.
The result keeps Arsenal in third, just a point behind Manchester City, while West Ham sit 10th in the table.
Sian Cowper
