Arsenal 5 Sunderland 1
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.
If nothing else, this was a chance for Sunderland to show that a return to regular action on this kind of stage is no longer a pipedream. They are third in League One and unbeaten in seven; those are words few might have imagined uttering four and a half years after their relegation from the top flight but the tide is, at long last, appearing to turn under Lee Johnson. The manager’s very presence could give the Black Cats encouragement here: in 2018 he took Bristol City to the last four of this competition with an exhilarating win over Manchester United.
Within five minutes of the start Johnson was bounding towards the fourth official, John Brooks, after Ross Stewart fell in the penalty area under close attention from Mohamed Elneny. Sunderland’s top scorer had got the wrong side of his opponent but contact was minimal at best. It typified an adventurous start from the visitors, 5,000 of whose fans had decided the Covid situation was no barrier to a journey south.
Gaps in the home areas were more pronounced. Arteta had made nine changes from the win at Leeds and the biggest pre-match cheer was reserved for Patino, the 18-year-old playmaker who was given a first call-up to the bench. The academy graduate saw his teammates come close in bizarre fashion when Nuno Tavares’ 12th-minute centre was cut out by Elliot Embleton, the ball pinging off the midfielder’s boot and looping onto the bar.
A breakthrough was not much longer in coming. Sunderland had survived a Martin Ødegaard free-kick but, when Cédric Soares swung over the resulting corner, Rob Holding was left unmarked. Lee Burge reacted impressively to make a low one-handed save but Nketiah, prowling for the follow-up, bundled in with his thigh for the kind of poacher’s goal that is his stock in trade.
Folarin Balogun, given his first start since August, should have doubled Arsenal’s lead quickly but fluffed his far-post header. He then shot at Burge when well placed and Sunderland were battling to sustain meaningful interest in the tie. It slipped further away before the half-hour. Pépé advanced down the right and took a return pass from Soares, both players being afforded too much space. His shot, from well inside the box, deflected in off Callum Doyle and offered the Ivorian some rare cheer. Since starting in the previous round, against Leeds, on October 26th he had only played 12 minutes’ football.
To all intents and purposes, that appeared to be that. But Sunderland had never quite wilted as an attacking force and bared their teeth immediately. They worked the ball smartly through midfield and, after Embleton found an inch-perfect final pass, Broadhead stayed admirably cool to dink past Leno.
Now the game was back on and, if Leno had not turned Carl Winchester’s drive wide, Sunderland could have been celebrating an equaliser before half-time. Burge’s parry from an Emile Smith Rowe volley set them up for the second half but they were dealt a blow when Broadhead had to depart through injury.
The anticipation was short lived. Five minutes after the restart Embleton was at fault when he dived in and let Tavares, who had been found by Balogun, scoot past him too easily. The left-back’s waist-high centre was diverted in slickly by the onrushing Nketiah from the six-yard line and Arsenal could breathe more easily.
Seeking to atone, Embleton clipped Leno’s far post with a left-footed curler. Sunderland had again responded well to disappointment but they were soon undone again by another moment of quality. Pépé nutmegged Winchester before sizing up a pass to Nketiah, who flashed a gorgeous backheel past Burge from similar range to that of his second strike.
All that remained was for Patino to be given the final 10 minutes, replacing Smith Rowe to a rapturous welcome, and the crowd departed singing his name. – Guardian
