Adebayor came on as a substitute with 15 minutes left and made an immediate impact when his cross was turned into the net by Hammers defender Julian Faubert to give Arsenal the lead.

The Togo striker then finished the game off in injury-time when he raced on to a through ball, rounded outrushing goalkeeper Robert Green and coolly slotted home from inside the box.

When asked whether the win demonstrated that Arsenal were genuine title contenders, Adebayor told Sky Sports 1: "Of course, we know we have to win games like West Ham if we are going to challenge, but the most important thing is that we keep going now.

"We came here to win the game and knew before the game it would be tough and difficult one.

"West Ham are a good team that played good football today. We came here to win and we did."

Adebayor praised the performance of West Ham goalkeeper Green despite the England stopper's mistake that led to Arsenal's second.

"Today we faced a great keeper from West Ham in Robert Green. He was very very good. I thought he played well."