Nketiah scores his first EPL hat-trick as Arsenal thump Sheffield

• Arsenal thrashed Sheffield United 5-0 on Saturday to continue their unbeaten start to the season
• Unbeaten in 36 home Premier League fixtures against newly promoted teams, Arsenal went into the match as the favourites

Arsenal thrashed Premier League rivals Sheffield United 5-0 on Saturday to continue their unbeaten start to the season. Eddie Nketiah scored his first Premier League hat-trick in the match before Fabio Vieira and Takehiro Tomiyasu netted two late goals.

Nketiah opened the scoring in the first half before a thumping effort into the roof of the net increased his team’s lead five minutes after the restart. A sensational strike from 25 yards sealed the hat-trick for the 24-year-old.

Arsenal scored five against Sheffield. Photo/ Pain in the Arsenal.

Fabio Vieira scored a penalty in the 88th minute before Tomiyasu added another in added time. Arsenal have moved to second place on the standings following the massive win on Tuesday evening at Emirates Stadium. The north London side have won three and drawn one over their last four matches in all competitions. Their impressive run includes games against Manchester City and Chelsea before they travelled to Spain to meet Sevilla in the Champions League.

Speaking after his side’s victory over Sheffield United, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he was happy with the way his players approached Saturday’s challenge.

“They took the game in a really serious way because I gave them on Thursday a big alert because of the context and the difference in the game that we have to play today with the previous Man City, Chelsea and Sevilla games and I’m really happy how they approached it. Obviously they come from the national team, so we beat City, we come from national team, we have to go to Stamford Bridge and we did what we did in Stamford Bridge. Then you have to go to Seville and that’s a really, really stressful week with what they were experiencing in the last few weeks as well.”

How Arsenal Thumped Sheffield United

Unbeaten in 36 home Premier League fixtures against newly promoted teams, Arsenal went into the match as the favourites. Mikel Arteta’s side started on the front foot but had to wait until the 29th minute before recording the game’s first shot on target, which turned out to be a goal.

Declan Rice released a precise ball into the box, which found Declan Rice. The England international, who was playing in the absence of injured Gabriel Jesus, finished brilliantly to record his first goal of the day. The Gunners weren’t able to double their lead in the first half despite being firmly in control of the match.

Nketiah was the talk of the town five minutes into the second half when he scored Arsenal’s second goal. This was after Wes Foderingham failed to properly clear a corner kick.

Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah scored a hat-trick against Sheffield United. Photo/ Eurosport.

Nketiah smashed a long-range effort into the top corner in the 58th minute to record his first Premier League hat-trick with the Gunners. Fabio Vieira and Tomiyasu ensured there was no way Sheffield United could have found their way back into the match when they scored in the 88th and added time, respectively.