Eberechi

I know from experience there are certain games where, if you are the player who makes the difference, the fans never forget it.

I had been a Liverpool player for more than three years when I scored my first winner for them against Manchester United in 2000. I was used to being asked for autographs and people talking to me, but that goal against our biggest rivals suddenly elevated everything to a different level.

I was now the player who had scored that goal for us, and against them. It was like people saw me in a different way, and certainly thought more highly of me, because I had given them this joy in a fixture that meant so much to them.

It will be the same for Eze now and the immediate effect of his hat-trick is that, in the next few games, he will be so full of confidence he will feel like he can try anything because he cannot do anything wrong.

Whenever he next walks out on the pitch, whether it’s against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday or Chelsea in the Premier League next weekend, he will feel he has the fans 100% behind him, because they adore him now more than ever.

It will be the same whenever he gets on the ball, too. You know the fans love you and that transfers to your game. You are thinking “give me the ball, what am I going to do next?” The feeling is amazing, and he will want to express himself and show the world how good he is.

That’s the buzz you get and it applies to any player scoring a hat-trick in a game of this size, but it always means a bit more when you are a fan of the team you do it for – it really does.

You feel a warmth from the supporters it is very hard to get if you’ve not grown up knowing it yourself.

I’d been at Old Trafford as a Liverpool fan watching them play there, so I understood what beating United meant to our supporters, the same as Eze will know what beating Spurs means to Arsenal fans.

What he did on Sunday will live with him forever, and the supporters will know he gets it too.

What a day it turned out to be for boyhood Arsenal fan Eze.

Before the match Tottenham manager Thomas Frank joked “who?” when questioned about how close Eze was to becoming a Spurs player in the summer. Those words certainly came back to haunt him.

A first senior hat-trick is a big landmark in itself, let alone a first treble in Premier League north London derby history.

Eze signed for Arsenal in a deal worth £67m and is starting to cement himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet for manager Mikel Arteta.

When he signed for the Gunners there were questions about where he would fit into the side but, after an injury to captain Odegaard, Eze has taken his opportunity with both hands.

The 27-year-old has taken time to settle as he got used to a different role in this Arsenal team than the one he was used to at Crystal Palace, but he has already started to deliver big moments.

He provided an excellent pass for Gabriel Martinelli’s stoppage-time equaliser against City, scored the winner against Palace and now has a first senior hat-trick against rivals Tottenham.

Eze provides something different to the rest of the Arsenal forwards and his unpredictability adds another edge to Arsenal’s forward line.

The Gunners have another two big games coming up, with matches against Bayern Munich and Chelsea, but Eze will relish the challenge given the form he is now in.

“That’s him. He had two days off after the England camp and after day one he wanted to train,” Arteta said.

“He wanted to come back and improve and ask questions. When you have such a talent and such an intelligence and then you add that willingness to be better and practise, these things happen.

“When I spoke to Thomas Tuchel (about him) I said how good is he? He said to me one of the best I have seen. I rate him one of the best in terms of talent. If we add in now his work rate, willingness to play for this team and the joy I sense when he is the building we have a special player there.”

No English player has been involved in more goals that Eze in 2025 in the Premier League. Only Erling Haaland (25), Mohamed Salah (23), Bryan Mbeumo (21) and Antoine Semenyo (18) been involved in more Premier League goals than the Arsenal number 10 (18 – 10 goals, eight assists).

“I know how much this move from Crystal Palace meant to him and what a performance from him. Best player on the pitch,” former Crystal Palace forward Clinton Morrison told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“This is where his Arsenal career takes off.”