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Nketiah’s hat-trick fires Arsenal into the EFL Cup semi-final

Arsenal are the first team in the hat for the semi-final of the EFL Cup after their
victory over Sunderland this evening.

It was a fine performance from start to finish this evening, with an attacking line-up being named, and an attacking side in action.

Eddie Nketiah broke the deadlock after 17 minutes of action, latching onto the rebound after our corner kick, before Nicolas Pepe added our second 10 minutes later. The Ivory Coast international weaved his way into the box before striking it low, with the goalkeeper’s touch unable to deny the goal.

They almost immediately got themselves back into the game however with a fine team goal, with Nathan Broadhead running in behind the defence to finish neatly from the through ball.

We came out in the second-half positively also, and it wasn’t long before Nketiah was on the scoresheet a second time with Nuno Tavares getting far up the field to whip in the ball low to the forward to send it home.

The Englishman then completed his hat-trick after some skill from Nicolas Pepe, where he nutmegged the defender before playing Eddie to backheel it into the far side of the goal.

Charlie Patino came in for the final 10 minutes of play, replacing Emile Smith Rowe, to give the 18 year-old his senior debut and it proved to be a night he will never forget. He closed out the game with the sixth goal of the match, and it was almost emotional seeing him and his team-mates all celebrating the event.

It was another great performance from the Gunners, and it will be interesting to see if either Nketiah or Patino could well be able to play a part in the coming weeks.

Patrick

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Tags Charlie Patino Eddie Nketiah EFL Cup Sunderland

74 Comments

  2. Great seeing Cedric out there. Still feel he should have more games in the first team.

    Patino! What?!

    What a win!

      1. How it should be. For years people moaned about favourites and not being judged on form/training then when it happens we get complaints about that. Got similar hopes for Balogun but Eddie is a few years ahead. If we have him use him and hopefully he stays.

    2. Its not 100% certain he’s leaving.

      Unlikely to stay but still not confirmed. Also you can’t make him sign da ting without playing him!

      2. Auba situation with Laca likely leaving might change the equation. If fans got on his side a bit especially given his record in the league cup that would help.

  5. Apart from a sticky time in the first half we were in control and Nketiah, wow what can you say about his finishing, fox in the box ?

  6. Wow, what a night!
    The Odegaard pass>The Pepe nutmeg (filthy)>The Eddie flick to finish! What a goal.. we were all aboard the showboat tonight!
    So many positives, too many to mention!
    Well done boys, well done Charlie… semis here we come! 👌

    1. Just tuned in time for the nketiah Backheel 👌 what a finish and what a debut for patino! Wanted him to come on in earlier. I wondered why martinelli was brought on!? Scared me to death with the two challenges on him

    2. Typical Arsenal fans going gungho against a team playing two divisions below.We won, end of story.We did conceed a goal as well. Remember we lost on the opening day to a newly promoted team and were held b y Palace and BHA and got battered by Liverpool and City.

  7. Tavares is a gem. Still raw but so much potential.

    Holding, White okay. Definitely overpaid for White.

    Cedric was decent today but I Wouldn’t trust him to cover PL if Tomi is injured.

    Elneny quite ordinary, Ödegaard great passing but needs to train his right foot!

    Xhaka was good. ESR and Balo quiet today.

    Pepe was frustrating in thr beginning but really grow into the game. Those nutmegs!

    Nketiah MOTM. He’s the true fox in the box that Jeffers was supposed to be!

    And Patino, beauty! Hopefully we’ll see more of him

        2. Elneny hater? LOL.

          0 tackles
          0 interceptions
          0 fouls
          0 shots
          0 created chances
          1 clearance
          97% passing

          By all standards he was ordinary, rated second worst player statistically after Balogun. What does make him outstanding? Because he was passing well and didnt make a mistake? That makes it ordinary. Very low standards if that warrants “outstanding”.

  8. Pepe Tavares and Elneny were outstanding tonight .
    Great win GG
    How Pepe as been cast aside is a mystery to me ,hopefully he goes somewhere he’s appreciated and a manger that gets the best out of him because once again he showed how good he can be if the team is set up to the way he plays .
    Eddie will get the applauds (and he deserves )
    But like I said Pepe Tavares (way more exciting than tierney)and Elneny (apparently he would never play for Arsenal again )was the stand out players .

    2. Lets not get too over mouthy.
      It was against Sunderland, a Championship side.
      The likes of Pepe, Elneny, Nketia Etc keep struggling up against tougher EPL teams.

      Lets wait and see.

      1. I think you.willl find they’re league one side !

        So all good but really lets not get carried away..

        If Eddie gets some minutes and scores similar goals then he should stay… lets see

        Will be a tough semi whoever we play but good its 2 legs so the guys get good minutes

    3. @Dan kit, you can’t because he(pepe) had a good game, today, against a league2 side, criticize Arteta for dropping him to the bench.
      As a matter of fact, he didn’t really play well in the first half and was dispossessed alot of times, poor defensively, witnessed him being shout at by Ben white. Everybody knows how good Pepe can be, but truth be told, he hasn’t covered himself in glory.

      1. Don’t forget Pepe would have to benching Saka/martinelli on the wings or you move martinelli central bench the strikers and move either saka/Pepe out to the left where they are less effective. Best players should play. I’m one that wants Pepe to stay and fight but he has to do it and largely it’s a fight with Saka unless they step up and can play on the other side which brings in Martinelli/ESR. How it should be. Look at city.

        1. I don’t think it’s a case of benching Saka or Martinelli….more a case of giving him some minutes from the bench. We have had many games recently where we have been cruising and and not used to the bench to get players some match fitness and also rest some of our players if needed.

          Pepe from the bench would be great, fact is he is a really good finisher and player….just needs so coaching.

    4. Great game, I see Leno was a bit shaky, Pepe lost the ball many times, lucky we played a lesser team, try that with an EPL team and get punished, Nketiah was good but I’ll prefer he’s sold, Balogun needs more game time(loan), Martinelli needs some coaching, you can’t keep going in for every ball, a good reason why he shouldn’t be CF for now, he’ll only get injured quickly,

      Hopefully whoever we playing in the semi finals, gets whooped by us,

      Here’s to winning the cup 🍾🎉🥂

  11. Good hat trick from Nketiah. Happy for Patino. Pepe had a good game with assists. If he can avoid losing the ball in dangerous positions and gets to beat his man regularly, he can really be handful for defenders.

    Good game overall..

    .

  12. Why did Patino’s celebration remind me of Jenkinson’s celebration😂. Happy for him. As well as Nketiah and Pepe. good game.

  13. Yet another semi-final for the club’s historians.
    Completely outplayed the opposition, with excellent performances from players that some fans want sold ASAP!!!
    I remember reading on JA that someone said Hales End was not worth it – have another look at the youngsters it is producing.

    Well done to one and all, especially Pepe – how I would love to see him down the left side.

    1. Well said Ken
      Remember the “Elneny would never play for us again “speech ,I believe Hes Now played about 20 matches since .
      Funny old game being a fan .
      Thought Pepe and Elneny were the best players on the pitch along with Tavares.

    1. Hardly surprising he was tearing up the youth team when he was there too, is older and by all feedback trains fantastically.

    2. Eddie is 2 years older and has had a lot more exposure than Flo, also Flo cannot play wing as all. He is a CF, end of.

      Both would be good if given regular chances but Eddie is leaving because that didn’t happen(and we’ll get peanuts or nothing) and Flo will likely go the same way in a couple years.

    2. Eddie is leaving.

      I dont think he can change his mind.

      I would rather we give Lacazette a 2 year extension, and play Martinelli in the middle.

      We should offer Aubameyang to Barca on loan in January.

      we need more goals from our forward players.

      An interesting option is to play Pepe in the middle behind Lacazette.

      Asensio and Sterling are two players we should bring in Janauary

  16. Like to see Nketiah, Tavares, Elneny and Pepe get starts on Sunday, especially with the short turnaround to Wolves on Tuesday.

    Would send a good sign to the squad that if you produce you’ll get a chance.

    2. Good shout Voyageur – makes complete sense.
      Norwich should be as good a three pointer as one could get…… Wolves will be a much more difficult game.

  17. I think Arteta is doing well, and from where we were, I think we have been so better….. definitely not at the point where we should be….a top top team….but now we can have reasons to believe and dream…

    Personally I am so happy for him and all the players that are now finding form again under him…..and of course I’m happy for arsenal…my beloved…

    I don’t know if any coach will have done better but I’m pleased with arteta for now….and he will still get better……so kudos to him…..for the transfer philosophy… attacking philosophy….quick adaptation….real over for the club (this is so huge on me) and the passion and hunger….

    I can only say much

  18. Amazing performance from all the players. God job MA for the team selection and changing the formation especially with playing Elneny alone and using more players upfront for attacking!

  19. I think Arteta is doing well, and from where we were, I think we have been so better….. definitely not at the point where we should be….a top top team….but now we can have reasons to believe and dream…

    Personally I am so happy for him and all the players that are now finding form again under him…..and of course I’m happy for arsenal…my beloved…

    I don’t know if any coach will have done better but I’m pleased with arteta for now….and he will still get better……so kudos to him…..for the transfer philosophy… attacking philosophy….quick adaptation….real love for the club (this is so huge on me) and the passion and hunger….

    I can only say much

  20. Very satisfying win all round, some sloppy moments but some sublime ones as well. Not the biggest competition but i have always liked watching the league cup and we have a shot at winning it.

  21. Great result and so good to see the potential. However let’s not get overboard regarding the opposition today. Let’s enjoy the win but don’t go overboard and forgot the opposition or lack of. Perhaps Eddie N, and Elneny have simply found the right level that suits their skills. On a different note also great to see Holding back in the first team. He didn’t deserve some of the slagging he copped last season. Defensively he is no worse than White but his haters will be duped by the layers price tag.

  23. Good performance, but against lesser opposition.
    Eddie N scored his goals, and you can’t ask much more than that.

    Or can you?

    I do not believe he will ever break into the first team until he learns to do his portion of defensive work, particularly pressing,

    Compare Eddie’s work up front to that of Lacazette, and you will see that his work rate does not match up against that of a much older player.

    Until he knuckles down and does the ugly work as well he will not get into an Arteta team.

    PS: Good to see Rob Holding getting some game time.

  24. It was a good game, Soo proud of Arsenal 😊. Don’t you think they should give Nketiah contract extension and sell Balogun and Aubameyang 🤨

    1. No! Nketiah despite scoring an hat-trick, he still doesn’t deserve to be in our starting XI, no even our bench. We shouldn’t forget the level of the opposition we played against, yesterday. We won that game because of the quality of the opposition and not because of how good we are. Pepe still has alot to do, alot! Smith was lost in that match, can’t be fault for that, but rather
      those he played with as he didn’t see a lot of the balls. Despite being secluded, Smith still managed an effort on goal, forcing a save from the Sunderland’s goaltender. We trashed them 5-1, even , should we have conceded that goal in the first place??🤔

  25. Wherr was AMN ? I find it disgusting for him from arteta. Foes he have superpowers ? Rookid manager 8th and superpowers ?just because a lucky FA cup ?! I am sorry but i dont care about wins when there is issues like that ? What has he done wrong ? Why MA forced him to stay just to freeze him except against watford (because of partey not available).so thats insane. If i was owner i would question arteta about that.wtf ? He played well ? You eant him out ? Why did not you them sell him and rather lied to his face ?! And then will cost owmer more for a replacement ??? That is legitimous questions. I would prefer loosing but that our club treats everyone decently and fairly not based on yhe coach personnal preferences and bias. Especially when it will cost the owner more money. I am not talking here about auba because auba does not fit the project, does not work hard anymorr, made mistakes. AMN is 24, homegrown and arsenal product so totally different.

  26. Great win and a fantastic performance by the team. Although it was against a Championship team, we did what we were supposed to do. Nketiah had a wonderful game and if he improves in his pressing, he is sure to get the nod in the PL matches. His finishing is great, he only has to improve his defensive duties. Pepe had a wonderful game too and I hope MA gives him a chance against Norridge and rest ESR/Saka for the Wolves game. Elneny was also very good, calm and composed in possession. Nice to see Holding back, missed him, could be a good partner to Gabriel with White playing as DM as and when required. All in all a wonderful performance, keep it up lads. A top 4 finish and a Cup or two is on the cards.

  27. Well done to Eddie! Seems very capable, unfortunate that he I likely leaving due to not being given a real chance in the last 2 years.

    1. Most likely, Nketiah might have an after thought after MA stated openly in his post match press conference that Arsenal wants Nketiah to stay, it is only a question of minutes, according to MA. So if Nketiah gets much needed game time in the near future, specially in the second half of the season, there is all likelihood he will sign a new contract, hopefully.

  28. Sorry to put a damper on our victory, but for the last 15 mins of the first half we were decidedly second best .I could elaborate why this happened but I do not wish to put a spoke in the wave of enthusiasm created by our win.All I will say is that Ben White badly needs a rest.

  29. Nice to win the game, but we still need a quality striker in January if we want top four. Eddie is a good player, but finds it hard in the intense pressure cooker of the Premier League games. We know Gabi Martinelli has the ‘Je ne sais quoi’, the something special, but we must aim for the bulls eye. We have a lot of players who are improving every game, but others are not at top Premier Standard. It will be good when William Saliba returns, so that Ben White can get a break occasionally. Felt joy for Charlie Patino, but let’s not forget another ‘Salah’, young Salah Eddine, who also needs a chance to show his considerable talent. ‘Hale End’ at the moment is a diamond factory.

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