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Mikel Arteta hailed \u201ctop-level\u201d Eddie Nketiah after the England striker hit a first Premier League hat-trick in a convincing 5-0 win over bottom club Sheffield United.<\/p>\n
Nketiah scored the first three goals as the Gunners ran out comfortable victors, with Fabio Vieira\u2019s penalty and Takehiro Tomiyasu\u2019s first goal for the club completing the rout.<\/p>\n
The victory took Arsenal up to second place, two points behind leaders and north London rivals Tottenham as Arteta\u2019s men remain unbeaten after 10 league games.<\/p>\n
With Gabriel Jesus facing a few weeks out with a hamstring issue, Nketiah has once again been tasked with filling his boots at centre-forward.<\/p>\n
His touch and finish for the opening goal proved he can do the job as the England international set the Gunners on their way to a victory over the rock bottom Blades.<\/p>\n
He doubled the lead after half-time and rifled home a memorable third \u2013 before ending the game with the captain\u2019s armband.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, he\u2019s top-level,\u201d Arteta said after the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has started eight out of the 10 Premier League games. So that tells you how much we trust him, how much I trust him and and the importance that he has in the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy for him, an academy player to experience in the Premier League a hat-trick. He needs to enjoy the moment. He fully deserves it and hopefully there are many more to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got an eye for goal. You look at the stats from his last 10 years. What he\u2019s done is remarkable and he needs minutes, opportunities and service and if he gets that, Eddie is going to score goals, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arsenal are yet to suffer a league defeat this season but Arteta revealed he gave his players an \u201calert\u201d in training this week after some tough fixtures either side of the October international break.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took the game in a really serious way because I gave them on Thursday a big alert because of the context and the difference in the game that we have to play today with the previous Man City,Chelsea and Sevilla games and I\u2019m really happy how they approached it.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously they come from the national team, so we beat City, we come from national team, we have to go to Stamford Bridge and we did what we did in Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you have to go to Seville and that\u2019s a really really stressful week with what they were experiencing in the last few weeks as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sheffield United remain bottom and with just one point from their opening nine games.<\/p>\n
Paul Heckingbottom\u2019s side are also struggling with injuries \u2013 but he was not ready to use that as an excuse for a bad day at the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cArsenal had a lot of the ball first half but Wes (Foderingham) had one save to make,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecond half, the goals were really poor that we conceded and probably a reflection of how I thought the game was \u2013 they outfought us as well as outplayed us in the first half and that is what good teams can do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are down to the bare bones and missing some big personalities and physicality.\u201d<\/p>\n