West Ham's youngsters produced a five-star display against their Arsenal rivals to win the FA Youth Cup for the fourth time in the club's history.

Only seven minutes had been played at Emirates Stadium when Omari Benjamin gave Arsenal the lead with a fine finish, after a high-tempo start from the home side.

But George Earthy got the Hammers back on level terms on 17 minutes, from their first meaningful attack of the night, with a strong run from midfield and fine shot from 20 yards, after a fortunate bounce off a defender.

And they took the lead less than two minutes later, moving the ball out to the right to Gideon Kodua, whose superb low cross was turned home by Callum Marshall from six yards.

Earthy sent a left-footed shot over the crossbar soon after, as the visitors came forward again, and they had another chance on the half-hour mark as Oliver Scarles crossed from the left and Divin Mubama headed over.

But Arsenal responded well, keeping possession and probing away as West Ham seemed content to sit back and soak up pressure in the later stages of the first half.

And a brilliant run by Amario Cozier-Duberry had the visitors backtracking, with Michal Rosiak's deep cross headed wide by Benjamin on 39 minutes.

Jimi Gower's strong carry and a cross from Benjamin then found Ethan Nwaneri just inside the box, but he was unable to get his shot on the turn away with a defender in close proximity.

Then, after a mistake by Josh Robinson just inside his own half, captain Kodua pounced and sent a sublime chip over the head of Noah Cooper for a sensational finish to put West Ham 3-1 up three minutes before the break.

Osman Kamara replaced Gower during the interval as Arsenal's Jack Wilshere shuffled his pack, with the hosts going close within two minutes as Robinson ran forward from halfway and played in Cozier-Duberry, who could only find the side netting.

Cooper had to be at full stretch to push a well-struck drive from Earthy behind in the 49th minute, though, as the Hammers remained a real threat.

Nwaneri skewed a shot wide from the edge of the box after some neat link-up play on Arsenal's left, with the visitors holding firm in numbers to prevent a shot at goal after another attack down the same flank.

And Benjamin could not keep his effort down after controlling a cross from the left midway through the half, while Rosiak also had a shot deflected over as Arsenal's frustrations grew.

The best chance of the half fell to Nwaneri on 69 minutes, though, when Rosiak's deep corner from the left was nodded down by Reuell Walters, but he could only drag the ball past the far post.

And Nwaneri drilled another attempt wide of the target within a minute, as he looked to make amends for the earlier miss.

Rosiak was denied by Mason Terry's save, after a good run and cross by Kamara, before tempers boiled over when Benjamin closed down the goalkeeper and caught him to earn a booking, with Kaelen Casey also shown a yellow card for his reaction.

Kodua was brought down by Arsenal captain Bradley Ibrahim just outside the box with 14 minutes left and Lewis Orford's free-kick was deflected just past the post.

And it was 4-1 when a corner from Scarles to the far post was headed home in front of the visiting Hammers fans by Casey, who was substituted after cramping up in the aftermath of his goal.

And Josh Briggs put the icing on the cake for West Ham, bundling home a corner with his very first touch to complete their nap hand in the last minute of normal time.

Arsenal: Cooper, Rosiak, Robinson, Walters, Sousa, Ibrahim, Lewis-Skelly, Gower (Kamara 46), Cozier-Duberry, Benjamin (Ferdinand 85), Nwaneri.

Unused subs: Rojas, Nichols, Kacurri, Brown, Oulad M'hand.

West Ham United: Terry, Battrum (Briggs 89), Scarles, Orford, Clayton, Casey (Tarima 79), Kelly, Earthy (Rigge 85), Marshall, Kodua, Mubama.

Unused subs: Herrick, Fawunmi, Mukasa, Jones.

Attendance: 26,000.