Arsenal vs Sunderland LIVE: Carabao Cup result, final score and reaction
Relive all the reaction as the Gunners advanced to the Carabao Cup semi-finals
A first senior hat-trick for Eddie Nketiah guided Arsenal to a comfortable victory over Sunderland and into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.
The back-up striker has reportedly turned down a new deal at the Emirates Stadium and is out of contract in the summer but shone in a 5-1 win which also saw Charlie Patino score on his first-team debut.
Nketiah opened the scoring before Nicolas Pepe doubled the lead, while the in-form Nathan Broadhead scored his sixth goal in six games to pull one back for the Black Cats before the break.
Any threat of a shock was extinguished within 13 minutes of the second half as Nketiah provided two smart finishes and Patino came off the bench to add the gloss with a late fifth. Relive all the reaction from the Emirates:
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Sunderland boss Lee Johnson has utmost respect for Arsenal despite ‘dad banter’
Sunderland boss Lee Johnson has admitted he would use his “dad banter” against him if he were Mikel Arteta.
Johnson takes his League One outfit to Arteta’s Arsenal in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Tuesday having unwittingly incurred the wrath of a section of the Gunners fanbase with a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that he would be happy to face the North London club in the last eight.
Sunderland boss Lee Johnson has utmost respect for Arsenal despite ‘dad banter’
The Black Cats boss’ comments did not go down well on social media
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Johnson on Arsenal
Lee Johnson is making forward to taking charge of Sunderland at the Emirates tonight despite making a joke at Arsenal’s expense after Sunderland beat QPR in the previous round.
After winning a penalty shootout against QPR, Johnson joked: “I’d love to have Arsenal away, or Tottenham away if not that [in the quarters]. And then we’ll wait for the really big guns when it’s two legs.”
Now Johnson can’t wait for this evening’s game and hopes the travelling Sunderland fans can create a good atmosphere. He said:
I think they’ve been fantastic, having watched them over the last four or five games. I think they’re very fluid, they have a lot of young players and a good model.
“They’ve recovered well from a ropey start to the season, and it’s coming through at the moment as they’ve broken into the top four of the Premier League.
“It’s a great arena to play in on Tuesday night. I think it will be an adequate to big crowd – I’m not sure on exact numbers with the current Covid situation, but I know that Arsenal have priced it well, and our boys are up for it.”
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Arsenal trio positive for Covid
There had been talk of Albert Sambi Lokonga, Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers potentially starting for the Gunners this evening but the club has confirmed that all three players miss out because they have tested positive for Covid-19.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is another player though to be in contention tonight but he is out of the squad with an illness unrelated to Covid-19.
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Nketiah is great form
Eddie Nketiah has scored seven goals in eight league cup appearances for Arsenal including four goals in his last four appearances at the Emirates stadium.
Nketiah recently turned down a contract renewal to stay at Arsenal but whether he plans to stay or go the 22-year-old will want to impress tonight.
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Johnson on reaching quarter-finals
Sunderland boss, Lee Johnson, spoke about how he prioritised the Carabao Cup over other knockout competitions this season and says tonight’s game is an opportunity to put the club ‘back on the map’. Johnson siad:
I think to a degree, you have to choose your competitions, and we’ve got a really good opportunity for the players on a great stage,
“What I mean by that is, for example, that we’ve used the Papa John’s Trophy in a very different way this year after winning it last season, and we’ve focused quite heavily on the Carabao Cup – something which has proven its worth in getting to a really good occasion.
“Despite my comments and bad dad jokes after the QPR game, this will genuinely be a good stage for us as a football club to try and put ourselves back on the map a bit. It’s one of the rare occasions we’ve been underdogs going into a game, and the players will take massive lessons from Tuesday – not only from the quality of Arsenal, but also testing ourselves against these elite teams.”
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Team changes
Mikel Arteta sweeps in the changes as only Martin Odegaard and Ben White remain in the Arsenal starting XI from Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Leeds. Bernd Leno returns in goal with Cedric Soares, Rob Holding and Nuno Tavares filling out the defence. Alongside Odegaard is Mohamed Elneny, whilst Emile Smith Rowe, Nicolas Pepe, Eddie Nketiah and Folarin Balogun all start. Charlie Patino is the only new academy graduate to make the bench.
Lee Johnson makes two changes to his Sunderland team that lined-up against Ipswich Town on Saturday. Lee Burge replaces Ron-Thorben Hoffmann in goal with Elliot John Embleton in for the injured Leon Dajaku.
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Line-ups
Arsenal XI: Leno, Cedric, White, Holding, Tavares, Elneny, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Pepe, Nketiah, Balogun
Sunderland XI: Burge, Winchester, Wright, Flanagan, Doyle, Gooch, Embleton, Neil, Pritchard, Broadhhead, Stewart
Arsenal vs Sunderland: When is the Carabao Cup semi-final draw? Time, TV channel and how to watch
The Carabao Cup semi-final draw takes place on Wednesday, with a new winner already guaranteed to be crowned in February.
Manchester City’s stranglehold on the trophy was finally broken after four years when Pep Guardiola’s side suffered a penalty shootout defeat against West Ham in the fourth round.
Sunderland are the lowest-ranked team left in the draw, with the League One side travelling to north London to take on Arsenal in Tuesday’s first quarter-final.
When is the Carabao Cup semi-final draw?
The trophy will change hands this year after Manchester City’s four-year stranglehold was broken
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Arteta on the Covid situation
In his pre-match press conference on Monday Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta, spoke about the current situation in regards to Covid-19 and the possibility of having matches called off at a moments notice. He said:
I think it is very difficult for everybody. It is very difficult for yourself and the way you have to do your work, it is very difficult for Vinai [Venkatesham - Arsenal’s chief executive officer], because he is dealing with a lot of meetings, a lot of responsibilities to try to defend the interest of the club in the right way, it is difficult for the players, for myself, for the staff because we don’t know really who is going to be available to do what, and we are all trying to help each other and get the best out of the situation.
"We have to respect the decisions I made because we have to believe that those decisions are based first of all on the wellbeing of all of us, that we are involved and secondly because we have to protect the game, and that is important as well.
"[We have to] have a really positive approach and your mindset must be ready that unpredictable things are going to happen - and stop complaining about everything that happens. Then you will find excuses, we can find excuses for everything.
"We know what is going to happen, we know bad news will come probably so we have to expect it and try to prevent it if we can with all the protocols we have. But we have to be prepared as well with Plan B, C and D."
Arsenal vs Sunderland: Gunners heavy favourites to progress
Mikel Arteta’s side are the heavy favourites to progress to the semi-finals despite the Arsenal manager taking this opportunity to rest some of his first choice players and to give experience to some of the youth team.
18-year-old academy graduate Charlie Patino is one of three young stars expected to make their senior debuts for the Gunners tonight.
Arsenal have progressed from 15 of their last 16 lague cup ties against teams from the third tier or lower with their only defeat coming against Bradford in the 2012/13 quarter-finals.
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