Match Report – Match Highlights – Player Ratings – Post-Match Press Conference
Final Result: Arsenal 5-0 Sheffield United (Nketiah 28′, 50′, 58′, Vieira 88′, Tomiyasu 96′)
Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Raya; Zinchenko, Saliba, Kiwior, White (Tomiyasu 66′); Rice (Elneny 89′), Smith Rowe (Vieira 73?), Havertz; Martinelli (Trossard 66?), Saka (Nelson 73′), Nketiah
Prior to the start of the game, Mikel Arteta shared the unfortunate news that the star of the win over Sevilla, Gabriel Jesus, suffered a hamstring injury that would rule him out for weeks, and the perennially injured Thomas Partey was set for yet another spell on the sidelines with a muscular injury.
This, alongside other factors, like Martin Odegaard’s poor form, prompted the gaffer to make some changes to freshen the squad. Eddie Nketiah deputized ahead of Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith Rowe got his first Premier League start since May 2022 ahead of the captain, and Jakub Kiwior earned a rare start ahead of Gabriel to partner William Saliba in the heart of the defense.
Arsenal drew first blood when Declan Rice fired a shot at the edge of the box which was blocked by a Sheffield United defender, but the ball was cleared to safety before Kai Havertz could prowl on the loose ball. David Raya started ahead of Aaron Ramsdale again, and caught a looping cross before launching a counter attack when he punted the ball neatly to Gabriel Martinelli, the Brazilian made a bursting run and fed Bukayo Saka but the Englishman messed up the attacking attempt.
All sins were forgiven when Rice made another transitional play forward and dinked a lovely pass to Nketiah’s pass. The Englishman’s first touch sent Auston Trusty back to Colorado, before side-footing the ball past Wes Foderingham. It was a very brilliant finish for Nketiah, who was justifying his selection ahead of the likes of Leandro Trossard as the alpha dog in attack. Rice continued his attacking play and teed up Oleksandr Zinchenko who bore down on goal, but Trusty made up for his error for the first goal with a neat block to thwart the attacking chance for Arsenal.
Martinelli was having a field day with Bogle on the Sheffield United right hand side and almost made it 2-0 when he received a pass from Saka, and blasted a shot with zero back lift, which brought out a good save from Foderingham. Martinelli went to the byline and drilled a cutback to Smith Rowe but the Croydon de Bruyne lost his balance and failed to connect well with the ball.
Arsenal went two goals to the goal, when Foderingham got a weak hand to Saka’s in-swinger which allowed Nketiah to smash the ball to the net with a half volley. Eight minutes later, Nketiah bagged himself a hat-trick when he received the ball from Smith Rowe at the edge of the box and blasted a surface-to-goal piledriver that left the Sheffield United goalie with no chance in Hell. That goal oozed confidence and the celebration where Saka gave him the ball and he presented it to the crowd was a nice touch. It’s clearly a day Nketiah will remember forever.
The Gunners were in party mode and there was time for a fourth goal when Fabio Vieira was scythed down in the box for a penalty. With Saka, Odegaard and Jorginho not on the pitch, a decision was made to allow Vieira take the penalty himself, which he dispatched with aplomb. That was Arsenal’s sixth penalty of the season, with a fourth different scorer. Late on, there was time to put some icing on the cake when Takehiro Tomiyasu latched on to Vieira’s corner to poke in his first goal in Arsenal colors.
An awesome night of football epitomized by the goalscoring exploits of Nketiah, which earned him plaudits from his coach and teammates alike,
“I’m really happy for him,” the manager said after the game. “Three very different goals that required a lot of quality and composure. He had a few weeks where he hasn’t scored a goal and today he had an opportunity, with a great performance and three beautiful goals.
“He’s always there, he’s always available, always willing to improve and give his best for the team, he’s playing a lot, he’s started eight games in the Premier League this season, that’s a lot, that tells you the level of trust that we have towards him.”
Arteta also explained his decision to give the captain’s armband to Bukayo Saka, as part of the 22 year old’s next stage of progression.
“He deserves it,” the boss said. “His journey is extraordinary, he’s one of our most important players. His role in the team and in the club has grown, his leadership and presence has to grow at the same level, he needs to start to make those steps and I think he’s ready for that.”
Nketiah has been around for quite some time and I was elated to see him have his moment in the sun with a scintillating hat-trick in front of the Emirates faithful.
Welcome to the Eddie Nketiah show.
Sayonara.
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