London: Eddie Nketiah scored his first senior hat-trick as Arsenal sealed a spot in the League Cup semi-finals with a comprehensive 5-1 victory against Sunderland on Tuesday.
Mikel Arteta picked a mix of youth and experience in his lineup to ensure his team comfortably progressed to the last four.
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The 22-year-old Nketiah treble was accompanied by a fine strike of Charlie Patino, who scored on his debut, and Nicolas Pepe.
Sunderland got themselves back into the game with a well-worked move that saw Nathan Broadhead race in behind Arsenal defence and beat Bernd Leno.
"It's amazing," Eddie Nketiah said in a post-match interview with Arsenal media. "It's great to go through to the next round, and obviously lovely to score a hat-trick in the process."
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"I am just really grateful to my teammates for the assists, and grateful to be out there to contribute. It's a different feeling [to my debut against Norwich] but that night will always live long as a special memory. It's another one to add to the collection and obviously it's nice to get my first senior hat-trick and now I'm looking for and hungry for more," he added.
The forward has scored 10 goals in nine career appearances in the League Cup. His contract at Arsenal runs out in June.
ANI
