Uh Mikel Arteta\u2019s Arsenal wrapped up a hectic Premier League weekend with a commanding 4\u20131 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the first North London Derby of the 2025\/26 season \u2014 and it was Eberechi Eze\u2019s stunning hat-trick that stole the spotlight. His performance was so impressive that Jamie Carragher publicly apologised on live television for previously downplaying the midfielder’s impact.<\/p>\n
Eze, who moved to the Emirates in the summer for \u00a360 million plus \u00a37.5 million in add-ons, left Crystal Palace despite having a verbal agreement with Spurs. He arrived as part of Arsenal\u2019s ambitious recruitment drive, joining Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke, and Cristhian Mosquera.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on his earlier comments, Carragher admitted: \u201cWhen Eze signed, I wasn\u2019t convinced he\u2019d be a game-changer. Les Ferdinand, who knows him better than I do, said there was more to come \u2014 and he was right. We\u2019ve seen some brilliant goals already this season, and then he scores a hat-trick tonight, so I have to apologise.\u201d<\/p>\n
With captain Martin \u00d8degaard sidelined through injury, Eze has seized the chance to take control of Arsenal\u2019s midfield. Thierry Henry has even suggested that \u00d8degaard may not automatically regain his starting spot once fit, given Eze\u2019s form. Carragher echoed that view, confessing he underestimated the significance of the signing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI misjudged how important he could be for Arsenal\u2019s title push,\u201d Carragher said. \u201cLooking at their summer transfers with my Liverpool mindset, it felt like only Gyokeres was a guaranteed starter. The others looked like depth options \u2014 Madueke to cover Saka, Eze for \u00d8degaard, extra centre-backs for rotation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eze, however, has quickly proved he offers much more than squad depth. Known for his creativity and versatility, he has won over Arsenal fans both with his performances and with his pointed five-word response when asked about his near-move to Tottenham earlier this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not speak about that,\u201d Eze said \u2014 becoming the first Arsenal player since Alan Sunderland in 1978 to score a hat-trick in a North London Derby. The 27-year-old added: \u201cIt feels great. It was an enjoyable day, and I\u2019m happy to help the team. It\u2019s special.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Uh Mikel Arteta\u2019s Arsenal wrapped up a hectic Premier League weekend with a commanding 4\u20131 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the first North London Derby of the 2025\/26 season \u2014 and it was Eberechi Eze\u2019s stunning hat-trick that stole the spotlight. His performance was so impressive that Jamie Carragher publicly apologised on live television for …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":55207,"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-55206","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\/white-black-modern-photo-collage-before-after-youtube-thumbnail-2025-07-15t105432-687.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55206","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=55206"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55208,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55206\/revisions\/55208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}