LONDON – West Ham United captain Declan Rice said Arsenal “smothered us all over the pitch” and added that the English Premier League leaders are “100 per cent” title contenders after the Gunners won their London derby 3-1 on Monday.

Iconic former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was back at the Emirates Stadium for the first time since leaving the club in 2018 after 22 years in charge and saw Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah score in a rousing second-half comeback after a Said Benrahma penalty had given West Ham the lead.

The victory maintained Arsenal’s 100 per cent home record in the league and lifted them to 40 points from 15 games, seven clear of second-placed Newcastle United, who have played 16 matches.

Manchester City could cut the gap to five points should they beat Leeds United on Wednesday.

England midfielder Rice told Amazon Prime Video: “In the first half, we didn’t have much of the ball but stopped them and had a plan. It is like Manchester City, in the end, one of their chances will create something with their free-flowing football. They smothered us all over the pitch.”

Asked if the Gunners could dethrone reigning champions City, the 23-year-old said: “100 per cent. They are a top team, you can see they are coached incredibly well. They have a young squad with attacking talent and can go the whole way, that is for sure.”

It is a sentiment Gunners legend Thierry Henry shares. He said on Amazon: “Yes, we are here to stay, we have a team.

“We Arsenal supporters have been waiting for a team to compete, not 11 players, you win a title with a squad.”

Arsenal’s squad strength was highlighted by striker Nketiah, who scored after replacing injured star signing Gabriel Jesus.

He said: “We were very dominant today, we were just lacking that final pass. But we kept going and once we got one we knew we’d get more because we could feel the atmosphere behind us.

“There’s a real unity and connection with the fans and we want to build on it.”

Saka highlighted the unity within the squad, telling Amazon: “Gabby will be a big miss but we all believe in Eddie. That’s all he needs, us to keep supporting him and we will keep encouraging him.

“Everyone in the team is chipping in (with goals) and everyone will be important.”

Benrahma sent Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way from the spot to put West Ham in front in the 27th minute after a foul by William Saliba on Jarrod Bowen.

The hosts were awarded a spot-kick at the end of the first half for handball against Aaron Cresswell before referee Michael Oliver overturned his decision after a video assistant referee review, ruling that the ball had struck the defender in the face.

Saka equalised from close range in the 53rd minute while Martinelli smashed the ball inside the near post six minutes later to put Arsenal in front.

Nketiah, making his first league start of the season, added a third in the 69th minute and Arsenal kept pushing to score again.

Arsenal were playing their first match since the season paused for the World Cup and their first since key striker Jesus was ruled out of action for three months with a knee injury while playing for Brazil in Qatar.

Any concerns the injury could derail Arsenal’s push for a first title since 2004 would have been heightened when they found themselves trailing at half-time.

West Ham, who have not won away in the league since August, had done well to keep Arsenal largely out of the area in the first half but their defence gave way once Arsenal found their groove after the break, helped by some fantastic service from Martin Odegaard.

The Norwegian split the visiting defence with a low pass into the feet of Saka, who had time to calmly pick his spot and beat former Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Saka hardly celebrated the goal, instead picking the ball up and rushing back to the centre circle. Now level, Arsenal did not take long to take the lead, Granit Xhaka slipping a pass towards Martinelli, whose powerful strike flummoxed Fabianski.

Nketiah then clinched all three points with a confident strike, fed by another pass from Odegaard.

Mikel Arteta said he was pleased his predecessor Wenger was able to return and witness such a convincing comeback.

“He picked the right moment. I thought the performance today was at the level he deserved,” said the Spaniard.

“We showed a lot of composure and quality. We didn’t start to play the game they wanted to play, we kept pushing, believing and deserved the win.”

His opposite number David Moyes insisted his side, who are just two points above bottom-placed Southampton, are not in a relegation battle.

He said: “I have been looking upwards, we have good players and ones who can compete right at the top. We need to start turning it into points and there have been others game where we should have taken more from them. Tonight I didn’t like the way we defended in the second half.” REUTERS, AFP