Arsenal's Eberechi Eze was the man of the moment as Mikel Arteta's men won 4-1 in the first North London derby of the 2025/26 campaign. The Englishman, who nearly joined Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, bagged the first hat-trick of his senior football career – and his post-match reaction to being asked about potentially signing for Spurs over the summer was priceless.
Despite having to play without Gabriel Magalhaes, Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Odegaard, the table-topping Gunners made relatively light work of their arch-rivals at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon – and it was largely down to the brilliance of Eze. Albeit in controversial fashion, the Englishman bagged his first of the encounter in the 41st minute.
Coming out of the blocks after the half-time interval, Eze – who moved from Crystal Palace in a deal worth £60 million with £7.5 million in add-ons – struck again in the 46th minute before adding a third in the 76th minute. Richarlison gave the visitors a glimmer of hope five minutes shy of the hour mark, but Eze's third goal was the icing on the cake of a brilliant individual performance.
Eze's Five-Word Response to Tottenham Question After Scoring North London Derby Hat-Trick
arsenal eze
Incredibly, Arsenal are showing very few signs of missing club captain Odegaard because of how seamlessly Eze has settled into the No.10 role. Against Tottenham, a side he was whiskers away from joining in the summer, he operated behind makeshift striker Mikel Merino and bagged three goals.
On one Wednesday morning in August, it looked as if Eze's move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was signed, sealed and delivered. A fee had been agreed between Palace and Spurs and personal terms had been agreed between the relevant parties – but the move was hijacked by the 27-year-old's boyhood club, Arsenal, and he then joined Mikel Arteta and Co in north London.
"Let it all work out," was the mantra attached to his move and that rang true as he struck three times in the North London derby. "It's special. I prayed for a hat-trick today and I got it, so I am grateful to God. It's fate," Eze said before being asked about being linked to the white half of north London over the summer. "Had the summer worked out differently, you could have been playing for Spurs."
With a wry smile on his face, Eze – who had just become the first Arsenal player to score a hat-trick in the North London Derby since Alan Sunderland back in December 1978 – gave a five-word response. "Let's not speak about that," Arsenal's hat-trick hero said. You can watch the full interaction between Eze and the reporter below.
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