Arsenal finally got their season up and running with a 6-0 thrashing of West Brom in the Carabao Cup.
An under pressure Mike Arteta may have been fearing a potential banana skin fixture at the Hawthorns, with the Baggies starting the season well in the Championship.
Aubameyang and Saka were both superb against West Brom
Any fears quickly evaporated as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a superb hat-trick with Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette also on the scoresheet.
Saka was excellent and ran the show for the Gunners from the left, with plenty of plaudits coming his way from talkSPORT commentator Danny Mills.
Aaron Ramsdale made his Arsenal debut as Martin Odegaard also came in to the side with Aubameyang starting through the middle.
An inexperienced West Brom side started well but would fall behind after 17 minutes.
Saka's performance was labelled 'outstanding' by talkSPORT's Danny Mills
Saka's clever feet saw him evade a number of Baggies defenders and fire in a low shot which Palmer could only push into the direction of Aubameyang, who slotted home from close range for Arsenal's first goal of the season.
Arsenal doubled their lead moments before the break, Aubameyang again the scorer with another simple finish.
A fine through ball from Elneny was collected by Nicolas Pepe, whose shot hit the post before falling for his captain to tap in.
The tie was all-but wrapped up in first-half stoppage time.
Aubameyang burst through onto a Saka pass but saw his effort saved by Palmer before his acrobatic shot fell for Pepe to slide in and make it 3-0.
Arsenal got a much needed confidence boost with their win over the Baggies
Saka added a fourth just five minutes after the restart, finishing superbly following a fine flick from Odegaard.
Mills told talkSPORT: "He's been Arsenal's brightest player all the way through. He's been outstanding. He makes things happen.
"It's a brilliant goal. The way he gets the ball and wants to make things happen, he looks to get forward all the time."
Aubameyang wrapped up a hat-trick with a well-taken, curling strike to make it 5-0.
Alexandre Lacazette replaced Xhaka for his first minutes of the season and was soon among the goals.
Pepe, who had hit the bar moments before, crossed for the Frenchman to slot home a sixth for the rampant Gunners.
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