A fantastic Eddie Nketiah hat-trick laid the platform for us to earn all three points in a dominant win over Sheffield United.
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 for us, as we extended our 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 we couldn’t find a way through their low block early on.
Our 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, a moment of brilliance from our No. 14.
We 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 we were restricted to just five attempts on goal.
We upped the ante considerably in the second half. Just five minutes after the restart, we 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.
There was a VAR check, as the officials seemed keen to ensure there was absolutely no reason to disallow the goal, before play eventually resumed.
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 matchball for us since Nketiah himself scored three against Sunderland back in December 2021.
We were playing with a spring in our step now, and the Emirates faithful responded by lifting the atmosphere.
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