Alexis stars as Arsenal thump West Ham

London - Alexis Sanchez produced a stunning second-half hat-trick in 15 minutes as Arsenal cruised to a 5-1 victory over struggling West Ham on Saturday in the Premier League.

Sanchez's hat-trick, along with goals from Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, ensured Arsene Wenger's side kept in touch with league leaders Chelsea.

A fifth consecutive Premier League match without victory will increase the pressure on West Ham manager Slaven Bilic, but his side's toothless performance against a London rival may annoy him even more than the result.

The visitors were afforded too much space in the final third from the outset at the London Stadium, with West Ham not helped by James Collins' muscle injury forcing the introduction of Alvaro Arbeloa after just seven minutes.

Arsenal wasted a handful of opportunities in the opening stages, before the ever-reliable duo of Sanchez and Ozil produced the decisive contributions.

Chile forward Sanchez raced through before squaring for Ozil to tap home in the 24th.

Arsenal were never taken out of their comfort zone before Sanchez produced a moment of magic to double the lead in the 72nd.

The striker received the ball outside the box on the left with little danger apparent before spinning Arthur Masuaku, skipping away from Angelo Ogbonna and driving low past West Ham goalkeeper Darren Randolph into the bottom corner.

Sanchez's first strike triggered a spate of five goals in 15 minutes, as he beat the helpless Randolph once more with unerring accuracy as the ball fell to him on the edge of the box in the 80th.

Just three minutes later Andy Carroll grabbed a consolation on his return from injury before Oxlade-Chamberlain got in on the act, curling the ball in from outside the box for 4-1.

Sanchez had the final word as he completed his hat trick with a sublime dummy and dinked finish to move Arsenal up to second in the Premier League, three points behind Chelsea.

	Team	P	W	PTS
1	Chelsea	5	5	15
2	Liverpool	5	5	15
3	Manchester City	5	4	13
4	Watford	5	4	12
5	AFC Bournemouth	5	3	10
6	Tottenham Hotspur	5	3	9
7	Arsenal	5	3	9
8	Manchester United	5	3	9
9	Wolverhampton Wanderers	5	2	8
10	Everton	5	1	6
11	Leicester City	5	2	6
12	Crystal Palace	5	2	6
13	Southampton	5	1	5
14	Brighton & Hove Albion	5	1	5
15	Fulham	5	1	4
16	West Ham United	5	1	3
17	Cardiff City	5	0	2
18	Huddersfield Town	5	0	2
19	Newcastle United	5	0	1
20	Burnley	5	0	1

Team

PTS

Chelsea

Liverpool

Manchester City

Watford

AFC Bournemouth

Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal

Manchester United

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Everton

Leicester City

Crystal Palace

Southampton

Brighton & Hove Albion

Fulham

West Ham United

Cardiff City

Huddersfield Town

Newcastle United

Burnley

Date	Home Team	Result	Away Team
17 September	Southampton	2 - 2	Brighton & Hove Albion
16 September	Everton	1 - 3	West Ham United
16 September	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1 - 0	Burnley
15 September	Watford	1 - 2	Manchester United
15 September	Manchester City	3 - 0	Fulham
15 September	AFC Bournemouth	4 - 2	Leicester City

Date

Home Team

Result

Away Team

17 September

Southampton

2 - 2

Brighton & Hove Albion

16 September

Everton

1 - 3

West Ham United