Arsenal\u2019s Eberechi Eze stole the show as Mikel Arteta\u2019s side secured a 4-1 victory in the first North London derby of the 2025\/26 season. The English midfielder, who came close to joining Tottenham Hotspur during the summer, scored the first hat-trick of his senior career, delivering a priceless reaction when asked about the possibility of signing for Spurs.<\/p>\n
Even without key players Gabriel Magalhaes, Viktor Gyokeres, and Martin Odegaard, the league leaders handled their rivals at the Emirates Stadium comfortably, thanks largely to Eze\u2019s brilliance. In somewhat controversial fashion, he opened the scoring in the 41st minute. He quickly followed up after the break, netting again in the 46th minute and completing his hat-trick in the 76th. Tottenham\u2019s Richarlison briefly offered a glimmer of hope in the 55th minute, but Eze\u2019s third goal capped a stunning individual display.<\/p>\n
Arsenal\u2019s squad appears hardly affected by Odegaard\u2019s absence, with Eze thriving in the No.10 role. Against the team he nearly joined over the summer, he operated just behind makeshift striker Mikel Merino, scoring three times.<\/p>\n
Back in August, it seemed Eze\u2019s move to Spurs was imminent, with fees agreed and personal terms settled. However, the transfer was ultimately hijacked by his boyhood club, Arsenal, who secured the 27-year-old\u2019s services. Reflecting on his performance, Eze said, \u201cIt\u2019s special. I prayed for a hat-trick today and I got it, so I am grateful to God. It\u2019s fate.\u201d When a reporter mentioned his near-move to Spurs, Eze responded with a wry smile and five words: \u201cLet\u2019s not speak about that.\u201d Notably, he became the first Arsenal player to score a hat-trick in a North London derby since Alan Sunderland in December 1978.<\/p>\n
Eze has now contributed six goals and two assists in 11 Premier League matches this season, and his form could make it difficult for Odegaard to regain his spot once fit. Versatile enough to play through the middle or on the left, Eze has been praised by Thierry Henry as a potential obstacle to Odegaard\u2019s return.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Spurs manager Thomas Frank, who had once tried to sign Eze, couldn\u2019t resist a cheeky dig ahead of the clash, joking, \u201cWho\u2019s Eze?\u201d \u2013 only to witness the midfielder showcase the very talent he had missed out on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arsenal\u2019s Eberechi Eze stole the show as Mikel Arteta\u2019s side secured a 4-1 victory in the first North London derby of the 2025\/26 season. The English midfielder, who came close to joining Tottenham Hotspur during the summer, scored the first hat-trick of his senior career, delivering a priceless reaction when asked about the possibility of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":55164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ebe-eze.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55165,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55163\/revisions\/55165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}