Arsenal expert Charles Watts has admitted that West Ham United's momentary fightback against the Gunners at the weekend triggered flashbacks of their infamous 4-4 draw with Newcastle United in 2011.
Mikel Arteta's side made it three wins on the bounce with a 5-2 crushing of Julen Lopetegui's men at the London Stadium on Saturday evening, where Arsenal found themselves 4-0 to the good inside the opening 36 minutes.
Such a scoreline evoked memories of last season's 6-0 slaughter of the Irons, Arsenal's biggest away win in the Premier League to date, but Arteta's side then allowed West Ham back into the game as Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson Palmieri cut the deficit in half.
The Gunners unforgettably let a 4-0 lead slip against Newcastle 13 years ago, conceding a sensational last-gasp leveller to the late Cheick Tiote, but Bukayo Saka's penalty in first-half stoppage time at the London Stadium put paid to the idea of another catastrophic collapse.
"Having lived through that Newcastle game, a 4-0 lead will never feel safe when it comes to Arsenal," Watts told Sports Mole. "I think everyone has been scarred for the rest of their lives, Arsenal supporters' lives, by what happened at St James' Park. No-one will ever feel comfortable by a 4-0. We all remember what happened there.
Watts slams Declan Rice free kick decision in West Ham victory
"Where I was in the press box, about eight miles away from where the away fans are in the London Stadium, you couldn't really get the sense of what it was like. But I was thinking it. People around me were thinking it and talking about it. And I'm sure they were all thinking about what happened at Newcastle.
"It's unfortunately a bit of muscle memory stored away that's never going to leave any Arsenal fans. But that fifth goal just sort of put all those thoughts to bed and you could sense that Arsenal were comfortably going to go on and win that game."
Gabriel Magalhaes, Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz had all made the net bulge against the Hammers before Lopetegui's men threatened an almighty turnaround, as Wan-Bissaka firstly ghosted in behind the Arsenal backline to score his second goal in as many games.
Wan-Bissaka's fellow full-back Emerson then fuelled belief among the home supporters - those that had stayed - with a tremendous free kick from 25 yards out, and Arteta was visibly miffed on the touchline as his side's dominance waned dramatically.
However, Watts slammed referee Anthony Taylor's decision to award West Ham a free kick for Emerson's strike, claiming that Declan Rice's challenge on Lucas Paqueta - which the official had a brilliant view of - was a clean one.
Asked if complacency crept in for Arsenal towards the end of the first half, Watts added: "I don't know if complacency is the right word. They got caught for the first goal. It was a very good play by West Ham, to be fair. It was a good goal. It was a good run by Wan-Bissaka. [Soler] threaded the ball through. I think Trossard, he just scored and set up Havertz for the goal, maybe he was replaying that lovely left-foot pass in his mind and he just let Wan-Bissaka run off the back of him and get behind Calafiori and scored.
Rice was "very harshly penalised" for Emerson free-kick goal
© Imago
"The second goal, it was never a free kick. It was a clean tackle by Declan Rice. He clearly got the ball. And I just don't understand how Anthony Taylor gives that as a free kick. He was staring right at it. You could see he clearly got it. There was an incident in the second half, I can't remember which West Ham player, it might have been Wan-Bissaka, he did exactly the same sort of tackle and play was waved on.
"So when I look at how that second goal went in, and it was just a brilliant free kick, obviously, it wasn't like Arsenal were caught and went complacent, I think they were very harshly penalised for a free kick and then the guy sticks it in the top corner from 25 yards. So I'm not sure complacency is the right word. I think it was just a mad couple of minutes which just seemingly turned the game on its head.
"He [Arteta] was annoyed. You could see when he went off at half time. I think he was annoyed because he knew full well that the game was sort of there and done and dusted and now there was a little bit of life left in it. But he always talks about standards, doesn't he, Mikel? And he probably thinks they let it slip a little bit for the first goal. But not the second."
However, Taylor's controversial decision did not end up costing Arteta's troops, as Saka put the seal on a mad-cap victory right at the end of the first half, helping Arsenal enter the record books in the process.
The 5-2 success saw all seven goals scored in the first half - only the fourth time that has happened in the Premier League - and Arsenal are now the first English top-flight team since Manchester City in 1937 to score at least five goals in five different away games in one calendar year.
Arsenal's triumph continued their theme of merciless wins since the international break, having also thumped Nottingham Forest 3-0 and Sporting Lisbon 5-1, and Watts emphasised the importance of Saka's spot kick for 'sucking the life' out of the West Ham fightback.
Watts reflects on "brilliant week" for Arsenal after West Ham win
© Imago
"First half was crazy, absolutely crazy," Watts added. "I didn't know what was going on. I was sitting in the press box trying to type. And every time I looked up, there was another goal flying in in that last 15 or so minutes of it. It was just a crazy, bonkers half. I think that fifth goal just before half time was so crucial for Arsenal because you could sense in the stadium from them being completely flat, those two goals, suddenly there was belief around the place again that they could do something pretty special.
"Getting that fifth goal and just quieting that down, I think that would have completely changed the mood in both dressing rooms as well. Had West Ham got in at 4-2, they'd have sensed something was happening, but just sucked the life out of their comeback. And the second half was perfect for Arsenal. They could just ease off, go through the gears and just make sure they kept West Ham at arm's length because the job was already done.
"It's a stadium that holds some happy memories for Arsenal. They've had some big, big wins there, obviously 6-0 last year. I remember Alexis Sanchez running riot there not so long ago and scoring a hat-trick in another time they scored five. And this was a really emphatic win on the back of the Sporting success as well. It was just a brilliant week for Arsenal.
"Coming back from the international break, you looked at this week, it's been a real big one to try and get some momentum going. They played three, won three, scored 13."
Arsenal's triumph coupled with Manchester City's loss to Liverpool allowed the Gunners to end the gameweek second in the Premier League table, nine points behind leaders Liverpool ahead of Wednesday's crunch clash with Manchester United.
Ben Knapton
