Arsenal thrashes Sunderland and advances to the semifinals of the English League Cup

THE Arsenal is classified for the semifinals of the English League Cup. This Tuesday, for the quarterfinals, the team thrashed Sunderland by 5-1 at Emirates Stadium and guaranteed a spot in the next phase of the competition.

Favorite for the clash, Arsenal started by imposing their style of play and building chances to come out ahead. After a few attempts, the team scored the goal to open the scoreboard in the 17th minute of the initial stage. In a corner kick in the area, Holding headed alone, the goalkeeper palmed and the ball fell to Nketiah, who deflected a knee to open the markers.

Sunderland tried to go forward after falling behind, but the Gunners followed with the pressure and expanded the result afterwards. At 27, Pépé played with Cédric on the right and submitted with a left foot to score the second of the home team.

The visitors showed a reaction and even lessened in the first stage, at 31, when Embleton advanced at speed down the middle and gave a nice pass for Broadhead to touch the exit of goalkeeper Leno. But in the second half, after just four minutes, Arsenal again had two goals ahead on the scoreboard. Nuno Tavares received a pass from the left and crossed for Nketiah to infiltrate the defense and hit the first goal.

Sunderland didn’t give up, went on the attack and almost made the second in a long shot from Embleton, who hit Leno’s right post. However, the hosts took advantage of the spaces to score a great goal in the 13th minute. Pépé received a shot from the left, gave a pen to the marker and passed it on to Nketiah to play the letter for the net and score his third goal in the match.

With the classification forwarded, the Gunners they started to manage the result and created some more opportunities to increase the advantage. When the lights went out, at 46, Patino scored Arsenal’s fifth and gave the final numbers to the clash.