{"id":24536,"date":"2021-12-21T17:17:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T22:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24536"},"modified":"2021-12-22T14:20:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T19:20:34","slug":"nketiah-scores-hat-trick-as-arsenal-head-to-carabao-cup-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24536","title":{"rendered":"Nketiah Scores Hat-Trick As Arsenal Head To Carabao Cup Semi-Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Nketiah opened the scoring before Nicolas Pepe doubled the lead, while the in-form Nathan Broadhead pulled one back for the Black Cats (PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A first senior hat-trick for Eddie Nketiah guided Arsenal to a comfortable victory over Sunderland and into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The back-up striker has reportedly turned down a new deal at the Emirates Stadium and is out of contract in the summer but shone in a 5-1 win which also saw Charlie Patino score on his first-team debut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nketiah opened the scoring before Nicolas Pepe doubled the lead, while the in-form Nathan Broadhead scored his sixth goal in six games to pull one back for the Black Cats before the break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any threat of a shock was extinguished within 13 minutes of the second half as Nketiah provided two smart finishes and Patino came off the bench to add the gloss with a late fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikel Arteta\u2019s side sit fourth in the Premier League and showed nine changes from Saturday\u2019s win at Leeds as only Ben White and Martin Odegaard kept their places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunderland wanted a early penalty as Ross Stewart went down in the box under close attention from Mohamed Elneny \u2013 but there appeared to be no contact and the claims were waved away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A stroke of luck almost put the hosts ahead as a Nuno Tavares cross was turned against his own crossbar by Eddie Embleton with Arsenal starting to knock at the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deadlock would be broken soon after, Rob Holding\u2019s header well-saved by Lee Burge, only for Nketiah to knee home the rebound from close range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepe, the club-record signing given a rare start by Arteta, doubled the lead as he exchanged passes with Cedric Soares before seeing his strike deflected past the helpless Burge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if Arsenal thought they were coasting into the semi-finals, they were wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunderland would hit them on the break, Broadhead coolly finishing a quick-fire counter from the visitors to half the arrears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernd Leno was then forced into a low save to keep Arsenal ahead as the Sky Bet League One side ended the half on top \u2013 although they did lose Broadhead to injury before the interval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunderland boss Lee Johnson had joked about wanting to face Arsenal in the quarter-final after seeing off QPR in the previous round \u2013 saying facing the Gunners or their north London rivals Tottenham would let them face \u201cthe really big guns\u201d in a two-legged semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He dismissed the comment as \u201cdad banter\u201d on the eve of the tie but Arsenal showed \u2013 in the minutes following half-time \u2013 that even their much-changed side were more than enough to see off Johnson\u2019s spirited visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two flicked finishes from Nketiah would settle the contest, the first from a Tavares cross and the second after some superb work from Pepe \u2013 who impressed on his return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embleton had hit the post in between but Sunderland were out of the tie as their vociferous following sang throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arteta was able to hand a first-team debut to highly-rated midfielder Patino for the final 10 minutes, the England Under-19 international replacing fellow academy graduate Emile Smith Rowe and sliding in to convert another Pepe assist to put the cherry on top of the cake for Arsenal.<\/p>\n

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