Arsenal beat Sunderland 5-1 to book their place in the EFL Cup semi-finals. Eddie Nketiah – whose future remains up in the air – scored a hattrick for the Gunners, while Nicolas Pepe and Charlie Patino added a goal each.
Nketiah gave Arsenal the lead in the 17th minute as he scored from close range with his knee after Rob Holding’s initial header was saved, and as a result, deflected into his path by Lee Burge. Ten minutes later, Nicolas Pepe played a give-and-go with Cedric Soares, received the ball inside the opposition box, and blasted a shot into the top corner to put the Gunners two goals up.
However, Mikel Arteta’s men would finish the half with only a minor advantage after Nathan Broadhead’s 31st-minute chip had halved the deficit.
Nonetheless, four minutes after the restart, Nketiah restored Arsenal’s two-goal cushion with the first of his two backheel flicks. The England youth international flicked Nuno Tavares’ cross from the left, from close range, in the 49th minute; nine minutes later, he did the same to Pepe’s cross from the right, completing his treble and giving Arsenal a three-goal lead.
With the victory in the bag, Arteta sent on Patino for a cameo appearance, which the youngster marked with his first senior goal. Pepe, again, was influential, as the Ivorian collected the ball on the right side of the box before squaring it into the path of Patino, whose deft touch was enough to beat Burge at his near post.
Arsenal must now wait to learn their semi-final opponents, although the North London side are guaranteed to draw a Premier League team. The remaining three quarter-finals fixtures feature all top division ties, with Chelsea facing Brentford, Tottenham taking on West Ham, and Liverpool going up against Leicester City.
