Eddie Nketiah's sensational hat-trick inspired Arsenal to a 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United as Mikel Arteta's side moved back within two points of Premier League leaders Tottenham.
Nketiah, leading the line in place of the injured Gabriel Jesus, converted the opener coolly from Declan Rice's cross in the first half then capitalised on a Wes Foderingham error to slam home an instinctive second soon after the break.
It was a dominant win for Arsenal over Sheffield United, as a fantastic Eddie Nketiah hat-trick laid the platform for the Gunners to earn all three points in a dominant win over Sheffield United.
Eddie Nketiah slammed his first hat-trick in the English Premier League.
The England man opened the scoring with a deft turn and finish inside the box in the first-half, but better was to come after the interval. First he rammed into the roof of the net when a corner fell nicely to him inside the area, and he rounded off his hat-trick with a stunning 20-yard drive inside the hour mark.
There was still time for Fabio Vieira to win and then tuck away a penalty late on, then in injury-time Takehiro Tomiyasu netted his first goal for the club, on his 50th Premier League appearance, as Arsenal extended their unbeaten start to the Premier League season to ten games.
Patience was very much the watchword in the opening 20 minutes. As expected, Sheffield United – with just one point from their opening nine games – set up in defensive mode, and they couldn’t find a way through their low block early on.
Arsenal first real sight of goal came when a searching early pass from David Raya released Gabriel Martinelli on the left. The Brazilian worked his way cleverly into the box, and laid his pass off to Bukayo Saka when he might have elected to shoot instead. Saka – captaining the side for the first time - was crowded out as he attempted to get his shot away.
Our first shot on target, just before the half hour mark, produced the opening goal. Declan Rice threaded a pass into a crowded penalty area where Nketiah expertly took the ball in his instep, turned past former Gunner Auston Trusty, then calmly rolled the ball home. It was the undoubted highlight of the half and a moment of brilliance.
Arsenal continued to dominate possession. Martinelli drew a flying save from Wes Foderingham after shifting the ball from left foot to right just inside the box – and firing towards the top corner.
In truth though much of the opening half was played out at a fairly sedate pace, and Arsenal were restricted to just five attempts on goal.
Arsenal upped the ante considerably in the second half. Just five minutes after the restart, they doubled the lead when a half-cleared corner fell to Nketiah in the box. He picked his spot and rifled a shot into the top corner.
Within a few minutes of the restart, Nketiah completed his hat-trick with an absolute screamer. Emile Smith Rowe, making his first start in the league since the season before last, rolled the ball to his fellow Hale End graduate outside the area. The striker took a touch and unleashed a rasper into the top corner.
It’s the second hat-trick of his Gunners career, and the first time any player has claimed the match-ball for the team since Nketiah himself scored three against Sunderland back in December 2021.
Another of the second-half subs, Tomiyasu, made it five in injury-time. A corner fell to him close to goal, and the defender reacted quickly to poke it home in front of the delighted North Bank.