
FILE PHOTO: Eddie Nketiah hit a super hat trick past Sheffield United: Getty Images
LONDON: The Gunners stay unbeaten while the Blades are still seeking a first win in the Premier League.
Eddie Nketiah scored his first goal since August then added two more, as his hat trick drove Arsenal’s dominant 5-0 win over Sheffield United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The Gunners stay unbeaten while the Blades are still seeking a first win in the Premier League under Paul Heckingbottom. Blades are bottom of the table with one point from 10 matches, 23 behind second-place Arsenal.
Fabio Vieira scored a late penalty and Takehiro Tomiyasu added one in stoppage time to complete the scoring to join Nketiah’s hat trick on the score sheet, as Arsenal builds on a midweek win at Sevilla and now turns its attention to a brutal run of fixtures.
Sheffield United will face extreme scrutiny, as the club evaluates whether its undermanned squad should be doing any better. Heckingbottom’s been given very little after selling Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye but one point from 10 is an awful return and matches with Burnley and Bournemouth come next month.
Ultimately, this game was a formality
Possibly the worst team in the Premier League visited one of the unquestionable best, and it looked that way almost immediately in North London.
The Gunners held nearly 70% possession and kept the Blades to an ungodly 0.03 expected goals total, taking 10 of the game’s 12 shot attempts.
Arsenal’s midfield was terrific, as Declan Rice ran the show but Emile Smith-Rowe and Kai Havertz were lively in and out of possession.
The Gunners’ pressure was too much for Sheffield United to handle, and few players will be happy with their days, but American back Auston Trusty was among the top performers and Vini Souza and Gustavo Hamer were scrappy on the left.