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