Arsenal vs West Ham United was the highlight clash of the Premier League on Saturday and the London Derby certainly was no damp squib as the Gunners ran out 3-1 winners at the Emirates Stadium.

Marko Arnautovic gave the visitors the lead with a fine strike midway into the first-half, but Nacho Monreal would equalise soon after to leave the tie evenly poised at the interval.

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The half-time introduction of Alexandre Lacazette proved to be an inspired one as the French forward’s cross-shot hit Issa Diop before bouncing into the net and Danny Welbeck would make sure of the spoils for the North Londoners late in the tie.

It was an open-ended clash in the English capital and here are The Statesman’s player ratings:

Arsenal

Petr Cech

The veteran is definitely improving, but how long can he keep Bernd Leno out of the XI?

Smart stops to keep Arsenal in the game as usual.

Rating: 6/10

Nacho Monreal

Defensively still found wanting, but did score the leveller and his offensive contributions cannot be overlooked.

Rating: 6/10

Sokratis

Got booked at the death but truth be told, struggled from kick off to keep tabs on the likes of Arnautovic.

Rating: 5/10

Shkodran Mustafi

Like his central defensive partner, didn’t get his positioning quite right and on another day, West Ham could have scored three.

Rating: 5/10

Hector Bellerin

Defensively adept for a change, but his crosses were on point against the Irons and one was gleefully converted by Welbeck right at the death.

Rating: 6/10

Granit Xhaka

Improved showing from the Swiss midfielder.

Rating: 6/10

Matteo Guendouzi

All over the place.

Showed his inexperience and was hooked for Torreira before the hour mark.

Rating: 4/10

Alex Iwobi

Struggled to match last week’s heroics and was sacrificed for a tactical change at the interval.

Did good to assist Monreal for the opener.

Rating: 6/10

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The Armenian was at the heart of all of Arsenal’s forays, in both halves.

Had his teammates been a bit more prolific, would have had a couple of assists.

Rating: 7/10

Aaron Ramsey

Energetic showing, as always.

Lacked that extra bit of quality in the final third though.

Rating: 6/10

Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang

Much better showing than his horror-show against Chelsea, but that isn’t saying much.

Rating: 6/10

Substitues

Alexandre Lacazette

Not for the first time this season, made a splash when he came on in the second half.

Effectively forced the winner and deserves to start, either with Aubameyang or solo.

Rating: 7/10

Lucas Torreira

The South American hardman was quite decent  n the ball as well and played a vital role in the third goal.

Rating: 7/10

Danny Welbeck

Cool finish to kill off the game.

Rating: 7/10

West Ham United

Lukasz Fabianski

Easily the standout player.

Made a string of superb stops to keep his side in the game until the Gunners pulled away in the second period.

Rating: 8/10

Athur Masuaku

Couldn’t cope with Arsenal’s swift attacks, especially after Lacazette’s introduction.

Rating: 5/10

Fabian Balbuena

Evening to forget for the Paraguayan defender as he and Diop let the team down at crucial junctures.

Rating: 4/10

Issa Diop

Unlucky to score the own goal, but on the whole it was a poor debut and he did nothing to suggest he should start the next game.

Got a yellow, to add insult to injury.

Rating: 3/10

Ryan Fredericks

Not the English fullback’s finest night. Got cautioned for

Rating: 5/10

Jack Wilshere

Perhaps was trying to hard to impress against his former side and overcomplicated things unnecessarily.

Rating: 4/10

Carlos Sanchez

Drafted into the side after Noble’s injury, the Colombian struggled to impose himself on the tie.

Rating: 5/10

Michael Antonio

Got himself into a few good positions, but couldn’t quite convert anything that came his way.

Rating: 5/10

Felipe Anderson

Probably the former Lazio man’s best outing in a Hammers shirt.

Smart assist to set up Arnautovic for the opener.

Rating: 6/10

Robert Snodgrass

The game largely bypassed him.

Rating: 5/10

Marko Arnautovic

Another productive outing from the mercurial Austrian as his cool finish game the Hammer the lead.

Missed a couple of good chances though, and it’s not a coincidence that post his exit, the away side looked rather blunt in attack.

Rating: 7/10

Substitues

Chicharito

Replaced  the injured Arnautovic in the second half and his smart running did cause the Arsenal backline a few problems.

Rating: 6/10

Lucas Perez

Definitely should have done better with that chance late in the second half.

Rating: 5/10

Andriy Yarmolenko

Not a bad outing from the Ukranian, but needs to do more if he’s to be selected ahead of the likes of Anderson.

Rating: 6/10