ARSENAL advanced to the third round of the Carabao Cup after demolishing West Brom 6-0 at The Hawthorns on Wednesday. With pressure building on manager Mikel Arteta already after two defeats at the start of the new Premier League campaign, there was welcome relief as the Gunners smashed their hosts 6-0. Aubameyang had been struck down by COVID on the eve of the new season, missing the loss at Brentford and coming off the bench in defeat to Chelsea. He will not have scored many easier goals than the first-half brace he grabbed here before adding a fine third for the match ball as Nicolas Pepe, Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette also found the back of the net. Saka was lively and Martin Odegaard impressed on his second debut for the club following his permanent switch from Real Madrid last week — but Arteta and his side will not be judged on such tests as this. While the Arsenal starting XI boasted 348 senior international caps and three national captains in Aubameyang, Odegaard and Granit Xhaka — West Brom made 11 changes from their win at Blackburn, handing out five debuts with an average age of under 23. Aaron Ramsdale made his Arsenal debut in goal and got off to a shaky start with his feet in front on an unfamiliar back four, which included Sead Kolasinac at center-back. He did make a smart low save to keep out Tom Fellow’s low strike as the hosts started well — only to fall behind on 17 minutes. Saka’s smart feet saw him evade a number of challenges before his low shot was pushed out into the feet of Aubameyang, who tucked home from close-range for Arsenal’s first goal of the campaign.(SD-Agencies) | 