Seven occassions between 1992 and 2012 that Arsenal managed to score seven goals.
1. Arsenal 7 Newcastle 3 (2012)
Arsenal were half-way through their seventh trophyless season and the pressure on Arsene Wenger was starting to build. The Gunners had made solid acquisitions in the summer with Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud joining the club, but hadn’t directly replaced Robin Van Persie who had moved on to Manchester United, after scoring 30 league goals the previous season.Despite scepticism from fans and pundits, Wenger remained convinced Theo Walcott could fill that gap. Walcott was having his best season for Arsenal and with his contract due to expire the following summer, found the best form of his career.
In a match The Guardian hailed for its 'Glorious attacking and goofy defending,' a very ordinary first half finished 1-1. Walcott opened the scoring with an Henry-esque finish, after being put through by Podolski on the left, and Newcastle equalised with a deflected free kick from Demba Ba. The sides exchanged goals to make it 3-3 with an hour played, before Arsenal produced four more goals in an electric 30 minutes during which Walcott seemed unplayable. A brilliant cross and direct running at a panicked Newcastle defence created two goals for the substitute Giroud, and Walcott completed his hat-trick with two fine goals of his own.
Within three weeks Walcott had his new contract. He ended the season as top scorer and Arsenal put enough results together to pip Spurs to a top four spot once again.
Related article: Every Arsenal Premier League hat-trick: Ranked
2. Reading 5 Arsenal 7 (aet) (2012)
Arsenal only managed four goals in normal time in this one, but it was probably the most extraordinary match of the lot. The Gunners had become specialists in the bizarre; the previous year they had managed to give up a 4-0 half-time lead at Newcastle, been beaten 8-2 at Old Trafford, and this was the second match of three in 2012 in which they scored seven.At Reading, Arsenal - who had beaten Coventry 6-1 in the previous round - found themselves 4-0 down after 37 minutes to a limited Reading side managed by ex-Gunner Brian McDermott. Theo Walcott pulled one back on the stroke of half-time and set up Olivier Giroud for a fine header midway through the second half, but with less than two minutes of normal time remaining, The Royals still held a 4-2 lead. A Laurent Koscielny header made it 4-3 and Walcott fired in a shot from Marouane Chamakh’s knock down with the last kick of normal time.
Chamakh, who was making his first start for Arsenal in eight months, and Pavel Pogrebnyak exchanged goals before late strikes from Walcott and Chamakh again gave the scoreline it’s scarcely believable look.
3. Arsenal 7 Blackburn 1 (2012)
Struggling Blackburn Rovers visited the Emirates with the Gunners languishing in seventh, their lowest league position at this time of year since Arsene Wenger’s arrival in 1996. Ten points behind Tottenham before kick off, the match would mark a turnaround in Arsenal’s season, with a vibrant attacking performance sparking the first of seven straight wins, including a 5-2 thrashing of Spurs three weeks later.Arsenal would eventually overtake their North London rivals to finish third, though that was not enough to convince an in form Robin Van Persie - scorer of 30 Premier League goals that season - to stay. Van Persie came into the Blackburn match with 18 goals in his previous 18 games and added to his impressive season tally with a hat-trick against a poor Rovers side who would eventually be relegated.
4. Arsenal 7 Middlesbrough 0 (2006)
Inconsistency was the main theme of Arsenal’s 2005/2006 season, their last at Highbury. A team which 18 months ago had been invincible, lost 11 league games, got knocked out of the domestic cups by Wigan and Bolton, and yet managed to get to the Champions League final.When Middlesbrough visited, Arsenal weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders. Their previous two matches had ended in 0-0 draws, and they would lose the next two to Everton and Newcastle. But Middlesbrough tended to be obliging opponents who Thierry Henry in particular seemed to enjoy tormenting. On their last three visits to Highbury, Middlesbrough had conceded 13 goals, yet Steve McClaren still set his team up in an attacking formation. ‘Second Choice Steve’ would take over as England manager later that year, after Phil Scolari turned the job down. England failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships … who saw that coming?
Henry opened the scoring with a sweet right-foot volley from a Freddie Ljungberg cross and added two more well taken one-on-ones - after excellent Jose Antonio Reyes through balls - to bring him level with Cliff Bastin's record of 150 league goals for the Gunners. Robert Pires, with a beautifully scooped shot into the top corner, Phillipe Senderos, Gilberto Silva and Alexander Hleb completed the scoring.
Reyes finished the match with four assists, equaling the Premier league record for assists in a single match.
5. Arsenal 7 Everton 0 (2005)
The end of the 2004-05 season marked the end of an era for Arsenal. Arsene Wenger’s third title winning team, the ‘invincibles’, had continued to play some fantastic attacking football but were a fairly distant second to a Chelsea team who themselves only lost one game in Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge.The last home game of the season saw Arsenal demolish Everton, who themselves had secured fourth place and Champions League qualification, with Edu and Patrick Vieira scoring on their final Highbury appearances. There was a carnival feel to the game, the disappointment of finishing runners up off-set by the anticipation of an FA Cup Final against Manchester United ten days later.
Dennis Bergkamp, who had just turned 36 and was coming towards the end of his contract, was serenaded by the crowd chanting ‘one more year’ (they got their wish) and he rewarded their support with a man of the match performance.
The first three goals featured a greatest hits compilation of Bergkamp passing. Robin van Persie, Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira were the beneficiaries of typically wonderful vision and execution from the Dutch master. Pires made it four before Edu was given an opportunity to sign off in style from the penalty spot, after an Everton handball.
The moment the crowd were waiting for came on 75 minutes when a lucky ricochet put Bergkamp though to make it six, and the substitute Flamini completed the scoring with his first goal for Arsenal, after some showboating from Thierry Henry on the left.
Arsenal would win the cup final with a performance showcasing the opposite side of their game, the absence of the injured Henry convincing Wenger to put the emphasis on containing United, but that would be Arsenal’s last trophy for nine years.
6. Standard Liege 0 Arsenal 7 (1993)
On their way to their famous victory against Parma in the Cup Winners Cup final, Arsenal squeezed through every round with narrow wins in true George Graham backs-to-the-wall style, with the exception of this demolition of Standard Liege.After a comfortable 3-0 home win for Arsenal in the first leg, Liege sacked their coach, Arie Haan. His replacement - Rene Vandereycken - fared even worse.
Ian Wright, scorer of two goals in the first leg and one booking away from a suspension, was left out by Graham but the Gunners didn’t miss him as they battered a poor Liege side and were 4-0 up by half-time with goals from Alan Smith, Tony Adams, Kevin Campbell and a first Arsenal goal for Ian Selley.
See also: Classic match: Standard Liege 0 Arsenal 7
7. Arsenal 7 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (1992)
Some of Arsenal’s biggest wins in the modern era have come from teams at the very peak of their attacking powers, but this win against Sheffield Wednesday was an anomaly. A free scoring start to the season had given way to a fallow period and the Gunners had failed to score more than one goal in their previous nine games, drawing a blank in five of those.After adding Ian Wright to an already impressive attack, George Graham had a wealth of striking talent and creative flair at his disposal, but struggled to find the balance of his 1989 and 1991 championship winning teams.
A poacher’s finish from Alan Smith and a scrambled equaliser from Nigel Worthington meant it was all square at half-time and an even game remained so until the 71st minute when substitute Kevin Campbell controlled a long throw, swivelled and lashed a shot high into the net. At the time, the 22 year old Campbell was threatening to develop into a top class forward, having played a pivotal role in the previous season’s championship run-in. He would go on to have a very respectable top flight career but never quite became the world class striker the fans hoped for.
Arsenal scored another five in under 20 minutes with two from Anders Limpar, one more from Campbell and one each from Paul Merson and Ian Wright. Merson’s goal was his trademark finish, an absolute peach of a chip from the edge of the area.
See also: Classic match: Arsenal 7 Sheffield Wednesday 1