Watch: Arsenal's Fine Team Goal vs Sunderland Which Includes Defence-Splitting Pass, Nutmeg And Back-Heel Finish
Carabao Cup: Eddie Nketiah was in brilliant form and bagged a hat-trick for Arsenal against Sunderland, which also included a fantastic back-heel goal.
Maintaining their form in the Carabao Cup, Arsenal cruised to a 5-1 quarter-final win against Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday. Other than the easy win, Mikel Arteta had a lot of positives to look at with Eddie Nketiah's hat-trick, out-of-favour Simone Pepe bagging a goal and teenage wonderkid Charlie Patino scoring on his first-team debut. Striker Nketiah once again reminded the Arsenal fans that he should be given a chance to cement his place in the playing XI with a stunning back-heel goal. It wasn't just the finish which amazed fans but the entire build-up which contributed to the goal.
In the 58th-minute, Martin Odegaard split up the opposition defence with an amazing through ball for Pepe, who was on the right flank. The silky winger nutmegged a defender before sending a low cross to Nketiah, who converted it with an ice-cold back-heel finish.
Here is the video of Nketiah's back-heel goal:
Arteta made plenty of changes to his playing XI for the Sunderland encounter. Regular starters like Thomas Partey, Gabriel, Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette, Aaron Ramsdale, Granit Xhaka, Gabriel Martinelli were placed on the bench.
Meanwhile, Bernd Leno was given a chance to increase his minutes this season after having lost the goalkeeping spot to Ramsdale. Also, youngster Florian Balogun started on the left-flank with Cedric also playing as a right-back.
For their next match, Arsenal face Norwich City in the Premier League on Sunday. The Gunners will be hoping to build on their good form and strengthen their challenge for a UEFA Champions League spot.
Arsenal
Sunderland