As fans filtered through the turnstiles, the KCOM Stadium seemed to be in the midst of a complete contrast to how it had been this time last month. With no summer signings, an injury crisis, a potential sale of the club in limbo and no permanent manager, Hull City fans were fearing the worst on their return to the Premier League.
Hull momentum crashed by early Arsenal onslaught
Yet seven points from their opening four games and the recently named permanent boss, Mike Phelan, bagging the August Manager of the Month Award suggested that the Yorkshire club were on an upward journey. However they were to be brought back down to Earth with a bang as under fire Arsene Wenger took his side up north where their attacking ability was a joy to behold on their way to a 4-1 annihilation.
After early pressure from the visitors produced off target efforts from Alexis Sanchez and Francis Coquelin, it did not take long for the latter to register as the first man on the scoresheet. The recalled Alex Iwobi's shot was diverted home by the Chilean as Arsenal broke the deadlock after 17 minutes.
Arsenal continued to press as Hull's defence continued to throw bodies in the way of shots. Hull were able to break with Robert Snodgrass who released Abel Hernandez only to see his shot from the left hand side of the box drift wide. Theo Walcott and Iwobi both forced saves from Eldin Jakupovic, before Mesut Ozil fired over. Snodgrass did have an effort on target at the other end before Arsenal turned up the pressure another notch.
After Iwobi and Coquelin both saw shots blocked, Jake Livermore deliberately handled in the box to earn a red card and give the visitors another chance from the spot. Sanchez stepped up but saw his effort palmed away by Jakupovic in the bottom corner as he just about kept his side in the contest going into the break.
Arsenal let loose in the second half
Yet breaking even against Arsenal is an extremely tough task with ten men as the Gunners continued to flood forward. It took just ten minutes for Iwobi to release Walcott with a flick on before the winger doubled Arsenal's lead.
The Gunners then began to settle into a more conservative game, though Santi Cazorla and Walcott both went close with shots that went wide. However the hosts did earn a lifeline when substitute Dieumerci Mbokani earned a penalty within seconds of coming on as Petr Cech brought him down in the penalty area. Snodgrass stepped up and fired Hull back into the contest.
That goal was to be the catalyst for Arsenal to step through the gears again as Walcott forced another save from Jakupovic, before Sanchez put the game to bed with an Arsenal third. Sanchez was then prevented a hat-trick by the Hull goalkeeper before Coquelin and Sam Clucas exchanged off target strikes. Substitute Granit Xhaka then smashed his first Arsenal goal with a powerful effort from outside the box to complete the rout.