Mikel Arteta hailed Eberechi Eze’s work ethic as a driving force behind his electric start to life at Arsenal – a run that hit new heights with a North London derby hat-trick on Sunday.
All eyes were on the England international after his summer decision to jettison a move to Sp*rs in favour of the Gunners, and he rose to the occasion spectacularly. Three sharp finishes helped Arsenal tighten their grip on top spot in the Premier League and underlined exactly why Arteta pushed so hard to bring him back to N5.
“Things happen for a reason,” noted Arteta in his post-game press conference.
“After the international duty, he had two days off, and after one day he wanted to train. And he wanted to improve, and he wanted to do extra practice. And he was asking me questions about this and that. And when a player has such a talent, and his desire is at that level, then these things happen. He fully deserves it.
“I’m so happy for him because since the day that he came, he brought something else to the team. It’s a joy, it’s an aura that this team needed, and hopefully it will give him a lot of confidence and the team, that at any moment he can win us a game. And that’s the ability that he has, and he certainly needs to fulfil that talent.”
If the opener came with a touch of fortune – Leandro Trossard’s strike taking a deflection after he’d spun beautifully onto a Mikel Merino through ball – Eze’s trio of goals were anything but.
His first saw him twist into space before beating Guglielmo Vicario low and early; the two that followed, both from the edge of the box after the break, showcased his two-footed finishing at its best. In doing so, he became only the fourth player in the fixture’s history to score a hat-trick, and the first Arsenal man to do it since Alan Sunderland in 1978.
On Eze’s ruthless streak, Arteta said: “Yeah, and it [the ball] doesn’t have to be perfect. It can be right, left, ball on the ground, bouncing ball at this height, and he takes it.
“He has such a quality and capacity to finish actions in different ways that we need to play him very close to the box. Apart from that, obviously, for example, [there was] the ball that he put to Declan [Rice] in the second minute – to play him through and create that big chance is exceptional. We need to play him in his qualities. The more he spends time there, the better for the team.”
Eze’s journey only adds to the lore: released by Arsenal at 13, he was so keen to return that he rang Arteta directly while weighing an offer from Sp*rs. His decision now looks inspired.
On the midfielder’s hunger to take the next step, Arteta added: “When he picked up the phone, I remember last summer, and he said he wanted to play for us and he wanted to be part of this team, you can really sense that.
“Hopefully, he can enjoy today, and tomorrow he’s ready for Bayern Munich.”
