Arsenal 4-1 Tottenham: Eberechi Eze’s ‘special day’ – but can anyone challenge Gunners for title?
What a day it turned out to be for childhood Arsenal fan Eze.
Before the match, Tottenham manager Thomas Frank asked “who?” he joked. When asked how close Eze was to becoming a Spurs player in the summer. Those words definitely came back to haunt him.
The first top-flight hat-trick is a major milestone in itself, let alone the first treble in the Premier League’s north London derby history.
Eze has joined Arsenal in a deal worth £67 million and is starting to cement himself as one of the first names on manager Mikel Arteta’s team sheet.
When he signed for Arsenal, there were questions about where he would fit into the team, but after captain Odegaard was injured, Eze seized the opportunity with both hands.
It has taken time for the 27-year-old to settle into a different role in the Arsenal team than he was used to at Crystal Palace, but he is already producing big moments.
He provided the perfect pass for Gabriel Martinelli to equalize in stoppage time against City, scored the winner against Palace and now scored his first senior hat-trick against rivals Tottenham.
Eze provides something different to the rest of Arsenal’s forwards and his unpredictability adds another advantage to Arsenal’s forward line.
Arsenal have two more big games ahead of them against Bayern Munich and Chelsea but Eze will relish the challenge given his current form.
“That’s him. He had two days off after the England camp and wanted to train after the first day,” Arteta said.
“He wanted to come back and improve and ask questions. When you have talent and intelligence like that, and you add the desire to get better and practice, these things happen.”
No English player has scored more goals in the Premier League in 2025 than Eze. Only Erling Haaland (25), Mohamed Salah (23), Bryan Mbeumo (21) and Antoine Semenyo (18) have scored more goals in the Premier League than Arsenal’s number 10 (18-10 goals, 8 assists).
Former Crystal Palace forward Clinton Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I know how important this move from Crystal Palace is for him and how important his performance is. He’s the best player on the pitch.”
“This is where his Arsenal career started.”
