Albeit against Blackpool, the 21-year-old's hat-trick on Saturday was superb.
He slid the ball past the keeper for his first, turned and shot for his second and emphatically drove in number three to make the Tangerines feel bleak amid a blur of six Gunner goals.
Scoring just three in 23 league appearances last campaign, Walcott knows just how important this year will be for him. "This is the season where I've got to push on," he declared after the match.
Peter Odemwingie From his flight to the first team, the Nigeria forward certainly had a fruitful weekend.
The 29-year-old signed for West Brom from Lokomotiv Moscow on Friday, and then scored the winner against Sunderland for his new side the very next day.
Oliver Golding Great Britain's 16-year-old tennis player won gold in the boys' doubles at the Youth Olympics in Singapore.
Golding partnered Czech Jiri Vesely to depose Russian duo Victor Baluda and Mikhail Biryukov 6-3, 6-1 to win the accolade.
"A gold medal, it's what I came here to get and now I've got one," said an elated Golding, who also revealed on Five Live's Sportsweek that he was sharing a room with diver Tom Daley. The swimmer is "slightly neater", claimed Golding.
BAD WEEK
Aston Villa A hat-trick from Andy Carroll, two from Kevin Nolan and a belter from Joey Barton made Aston Villa's day trip to Newcastle a miserable affair.
6-0 was more like a tennis result than a top-flight score. And to make matters worse, Villa's John Carew had blazed over from the penalty spot when it was 0-0.
Matthew Upson The English defender's diving header sent the ball past his own goalkeeper, Robert Green, as West Ham continued to their poor start to the season with a 3-1 home defeat to Bolton.
Wigan 4-0, 6-0: Roger Federer would have been proud. But not Wigan supporters. And after their dismal defeats to Blackpool and now Chelsea, the chorus of disapproval will be loud if Wigan are withering during their next home league game, which is against Sunderland next month.
Ian Evatt As if Blackpool's Emirates Stadium outing could not have got any worse, Evatt's red card compounded the misery.
With Arsenal's Marouane Chamakh through on goal, Evatt brought down the Moroccan to give away a penalty. The challenge looked outside the area but there was no mercy from Andrey Arshavin who slotted home the spot-kick. Blackpool's manager Ian Holloway must have felt sick when he saw six on the scoreboard.
Sir Alex Ferguson Not only will Manchester United feel they dropped two points against Fulham, especially considering Nani missed his penalty, their manager's coyness from the camera may be punished.
Ferguson's refusal to speak to the BBC afterwards will surely result in a fine, with the Scot having a day to forget down by the Thames.
