ROBIN van Persie hit a hat-trick as Arsenal halted its poor recent run with a 7-1 win at home to 10-man Blackburn Rovers.

The Dutchman opened the scoring in the second minute with his 100th career league goal, adding a second to put Arsenal back in front after Rovers had levelled through Morten Gamst Pedersen’s free-kick.

The superb Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain grabbed the first of his two goals, opening his Premier League account just before Gael Givet was shown a straight red card for a reckless lunge on Van Persie.

Mikel Arteta added a fourth for Arsenal early in the second half, while Oxlade-Chamberlain – who along with fellow winger Theo Walcott had been a nightmare for Rovers – made it 5-1 with a cool low finish after his fellow ex-Southampton trainee’s mazy run.

Just after the hour mark Van Persie completed his treble with a blasted finish into the roof of the net, taking his season tally to 22 in the league – more than last season’s top scorers Dimitar Berbatov and Carlos Tevez had managed by the end of the campaign.

There was time for an emotional seventh as Thierry Henry came off the bench to score his first Premier League goal in five years.