ARSENAL fans have praised Eddie Nketiah’s knack of turning into “prime Ronaldo” whenever Gabriel Jesus is unavailable.
Nketiah, 24, scored a hat-trick as Arsenal coasted to a 5-0 victory over Sheffield United at the Emirates.
The forward bagged Arsenal’s first three before late goals from Fabio Vieira and Takehiro Tomiyasu made it five for Arsenal.
It was a day of landmarks for Nketiah in more ways than one – firstly, he broke a run of nine Premier League matches without a goal which had left some Arsenal fans asking questions about his inclusion in the team.
There was also the fact that grabbing a hat-trick meant he took home the Premier League match ball for the first time in his career.
The recently capped England striker will no doubt be hoping to take this confidence boosting performance forward with him in the absence of Gabriel Jesus.
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Jesus picked up an injury midweek during Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Sevilla.
The forward supplied a goal and an assist before tweaking his hamstring in a magnificent individual performance.
Jesus will miss weeks, possibly months with the injury, with Nketiah expected to step in in the meantime.
And Arsenal fans are buzzing with Nketiah’s form so far, with one Arsenal fan tweeting: “Average Eddie Nketiah performance when Jesus is injured” alongside a montage of Ronaldo Nazario’s goals.
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Another fan tweeted: “Eddie Nketiah stepping up when it’s needed most!”
Another fan tweeted: “He’s him.” Alongside a picture of Nketiah’s face photoshopped onto Thierry Henry’s body.
A fourth fan tweeted: “Golden boot, wait on us.” Alongside a gif of Eddie Nketiah’s trademark phone celebration.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
