Eze hits hat-trick as Arsenal thump rivals Tottenham

Eberechi Eze came close to joining Tottenham during the summer. On Sunday, he scored a hat trick against Spurs for their biggest rival.

The England playmaker was the inspiration behind Arsenal’s 4-1 win in the north London derby that left his team with a six-point lead in the Premier League.

Eze added to Leandro Trossard’s 36th-minute opening goal with his first in the 41st, and made it 3-0 inside a minute of the second half by slotting in a left-footed finish.

Eze completed his hat trick with a curling shot in the 76th and made it the perfect weekend for Arsenal, which had seen its two biggest title rivals — Manchester City and Liverpool — lose on Saturday.

Now it’s Chelsea which is the closest challenger in second place. After 12 games, however, Arsenal is a big favorite to win its first top-flight league title since 2004.

Tottenham’s consolation wound up being the goal of the game at Emirates Stadium. Richarlison picked up a loose ball and chipped Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya from around 45 yards (meters) to make it 3-1 at the time.

Eze made sure there would be no comeback, three months to the day after joining his boyhood club from Crystal Palace for a reported initial fee of 60 million pounds ($80 million). Earlier in the transfer window, he was reportedly in talks with Tottenham.

Asked if he might have been wearing the white of Spurs on Sunday, Eze said: “Let’s not speak about that.”

Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario apologized to the team’s supporters for Spurs’ meek performance.

“As a collective, we didn’t fight,” Vicario said.