Arsenal's record signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored on his debut and Aaron Ramsey hit a hat-trick in a swaggering 5-1 rout of woeful Everton.
Photo from Arsenal.com
Aubameyang vowed to emulate Arsenal legend Thierry Henry after arriving from Borussia Dortmund for £56 million this week.
While it is too soon for such lofty comparisons, the Gabon striker certainly made the perfect first impression at the Emirates Stadium.
Aubameyang, recovered from an illness that had placed his debut in doubt, capped an exhilarating first half from Arsenal with a composed finish to put his side four goals ahead.
Ramsey had opened the scoring and Laurent Koscielny increased Arsenal's lead before Ramsey struck again to make it three goals in the first 19 minutes.
Aubameyang's lively debut was aided by three assists from Henrikh Mkhitaryan in his first Arsenal start.
Wales midfielder Ramsey completed his treble in the second half and the only angst for Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was the sight of goalkeeper Petr Cech limping off injured.
Sixth-placed Arsenal are now five points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who face Watford on Monday, in the race to qualify for next season's Champions League via a top four finish.
Wenger had bemoaned Arsenal's defending in their wretched 3-1 loss at Swansea on Tuesday, but the two changes he made were both attack-minded as Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan came in.
Aubameyang replaced misfiring France striker Alexandre Lacazette, who has netted only one goal in his last 12 appearances.
Mkhitaryan was making his home debut after arriving from Manchester United as part of the deal that sent Alexis Sanchez to Old Trafford.
