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– Arsenal have reached the Carabao Cup semifinals after defeating Sunderland 5-1 thanks to a hat-trick by Edward Nketiah.
– Nketiah opened the scoring at Emirates Stadium in the 17th minute, reacting quickest to a loose ball after a combination of goalkeeper Lee Burge and U.S. international Lynden Gooch had blocked Rob Holding’s header from a corner.
– The Gunners doubled their lead within 10 minutes when Nicolas Pepe, making his first start in any competition since the previous round against Leeds, exchanged passes with Cedric Soares before sweeping home via a deflection.
Also Read: Arsenal cruise past Leeds with four goals
– Four minutes later, though, Sunderland halved the deficit with a goal on the counter-attack. Elliott Embleton played Nathan Broadhead in behind the Arsenal defence and the 23-year-old lifted a clever finish over the advancing Bernd Leno.
– Nketiah then scored his final and third goal on the night in the 58th minute with Charlie Patino scoring his first goal for the club in the waning minutes.
