19 hours ago
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Eberechi Eze scored a hat-trick as Arsenal thrashed Tottenham 4-1 in the North London Derby on Sunday night, while Jamie Carragher was forced to eat his words after the match.
Jamie Carragher apologised for his criticism of Arsenal's signing of Eberechi Eze. The Gunners' playmaker was instrumental in their 4-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon - as he became the first player to score a hat-trick in a North London Derby since Alan Sunderland in 1978.
Eze, who turned down Spurs to sign for Arsenal in the summer, scored either side of half-time before finding his third with 15 minutes remaining. Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, the former Liverpool defender admitted he had misjudged the England international.
Carragher said: "I must be honest I think when Arsenal signed him and when I had my Liverpool hat on, and I looked at the signings Arsenal made... Beside Viktor Gyokeres, it felt like a lot of them were to strengthen the squad really.
"So where Arsenal had problems the year before was when [Bukayo] Saka was out, they bought [Noni] Madueke. [Martin] Odegaard was out, they bought Eze. One of the centre-backs was out so they got a couple of centre-backs.
"It was only really Gyokeres who I felt was going to go into the team. If I am being honest, I think if [Kai] Havertz was 100 per cent fit, Havertz would probably be the centre-forward in this team I think."
Carragher added: "So, when Eze came in I thought; 'Okay maybe he's not a game-changer', and Les [Ferdinand] knows him a lot better than me and he still said earlier on in the show; 'There's still a lot more to come'.
"But then we still see some of his highlights this season and there are a fee great goals in there and then he goes and scores a hat-trick, so apologies. Certainly undervalued the importance that signing was because he looks like he could make a real difference for Arsenal this season and go on and win the title."
Thierry Henry heaped praise on Eze, highlighting the former Crystal Palace maestro's knack for finding pockets of space in and around the penalty area. The Arsenal legend said: "As before, you would have seen that composure, you know, he has that composure.
"He's calm. The way he speaks is the same way. But what I like about him is the way he is in the game today; he finds a way to be in and around the box.
"Especially on one of the goals, you will see, he pulls away from everybody to make sure he can have time to execute. And we all know he can finish.
"I mean, I mean, I know he's with us now, but when you look at him at Palace, and the way they reposition him under [Jean-Philippe] Mateta, suddenly, as a 10, he started to see the game a different way, with a guy that can play, that can play for him.
"And obviously today was different because he didn't have a proper No.9 with but that's why I think it was easier for him to get in the box today - because you don't have the presence of a No.9. He was a No.9 at times."
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