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	Manchester City	34	29	90
2	Manchester United	34	23	74
3	Liverpool	35	20	71
4	Tottenham Hotspur	34	20	68
5	Chelsea	34	19	63
6	Arsenal	34	17	57
7	Burnley	35	14	53
8	Everton	35	12	45
9	Leicester City	34	11	44
10	Newcastle United	34	11	41
11	AFC Bournemouth	35	9	38
12	Watford	35	10	38
13	Brighton & Hove Albion	34	8	36
14	Crystal Palace	35	8	35
15	West Ham United	34	8	35
16	Huddersfield Town	34	9	35
17	Swansea City	34	8	33
18	Southampton	34	5	29
19	Stoke City	35	6	29
20	West Bromwich Albion	35	4	25

Team

PTS

Manchester City

Manchester United

Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea

Arsenal

Burnley

Everton

Leicester City

Newcastle United

AFC Bournemouth

Watford

Brighton & Hove Albion

Crystal Palace

West Ham United

Huddersfield Town

Swansea City

Southampton

Stoke City

West Bromwich Albion

Date	Home Team	Result	Away Team
23 Apr	Everton	1 - 0	Newcastle United
22 Apr	Manchester City	5 - 0	Swansea City
22 Apr	Stoke City	1 - 1	Burnley
22 Apr	Arsenal	4 - 1	West Ham United
21 Apr	Watford	0 - 0	Crystal Palace
21 Apr	West Bromwich Albion	2 - 2	Liverpool

Date

Home Team

Result

Away Team

23 Apr

Everton

1 - 0

Newcastle United

22 Apr

Manchester City

5 - 0

Swansea City