Goals from Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie were enough to see of a poor West Ham side.
New loan signing Wayne Bridge had a terrible debut, playing a part in all three of the Gunners goals.
Despite speculation that today is his last game in charge, Avram Grant faced up to the media and admitted that his side were outclassed.
“Arsenal are a good team, they played well,” said Grant.
“It is not a secret. But I am delighted with the effort of my players. We were without five first-choice midfielders and then Mark Noble was injured during the game.
“Today, if we had all our team it could have been different. It was difficult, especially against Arsenal. We did well against other teams around us in these circumstances but when you play the top teams you need your top players.”