This was another reminder from Eddie Nketiah that, however Mikel Arteta chooses to shuffle his striking pack in the coming months, the decision will not be straightforward. Nketiah wants regular football and has rejected a contract offer, but proved a point here by scoring a hat-trick to beat Sunderland and send Arsenal to the Carabao Cup semi-finals. His goals came from a cumulative distance of 15 yards, but that is what Nketiah does: he is a finisher in the old-fashioned style, as he proved twice in previous rounds, and given the intrigue over Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s future there may yet be some role for a spearhead of his potency.
Nicolas Pépé illuminated a bleak personal campaign with Arsenal’s second goal and a piece of skill that afforded Nketiah his chance to claim the matchball. But the Ivorian’s next trick may have been the most significant: he laid on a debut goal for Charlie Patino, an academy product whose promise has set mouths watering. Sunderland were enterprising but Nathan Broadhead’s strike was ultimately a footnote.
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