Arsenal crushed the bottom team

Arsenal did not use their strongest squad in round 10 of the Premier League. They played at home and their opponent was Sheffield United - the team at the bottom of the table with only one point after the first 9 rounds. Coach Mikel Arteta's team did not have much difficulty in winning 3 points.

Arsenal had double the ball possession in the first half. However, when Sheffield played a deep defense, the home team did not create many chances. Arsenal played slowly, patiently looking for space.

Nketiah scored a hat-trick after nine consecutive matches without scoring. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Gunners had three chances to score and scored once in the first half. Declan Rice made a surprise pass that left Sheffield United defenders off-balance. Eddie Nketiah controlled the ball neatly and finished accurately in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. The England striker ended a run of nine consecutive matches without a goal.

Nketiah’s goal made things easier for Arsenal. The home team completely controlled the game without attacking too much. After the break, the visitors’ possession rate dropped below 30%.

The main character of the second half was Nketiah. The 24-year-old striker seized the opportunity to score a close-range shot to double the gap in the 50th minute when the away team's goalkeeper made a mistake in a corner kick. Less than 10 minutes later, Nketiah created a superb long-range shot to increase the score to 3-0.

Nketiah is the first Arsenal player to score a hat-trick in the 2023/2024 season.

This was the first time this player scored a hat-trick in an Arsenal shirt. In the last 20 minutes of the match, Nketiah was given the captain's armband after Bukayo Saka left the field.

Sheffield soon fell apart and lost their fighting spirit. The visitors failed to create any threatening situations that troubled Arsenal's defense.

In the final minutes of the match, Arsenal were awarded a penalty after the referee reviewed video and determined that Fabio Vieira had been fouled. Nketiah passed the ball to his Portuguese teammate, denying him the chance to score his fourth goal of the match. Vieira converted the penalty.

That wasn't the last goal of the game. From a corner kick in the sixth minute of injury time, Takehiro Tomiyasu scored his first Premier League goal to seal a 5-0 win for Arsenal.