North London will never quite look at Eberechi Eze the same way again.
The 4-1 demolition of Tottenham on Sunday was not just another derby win; it was the night Eze announced his permanent arrival at the very top table. Three goals, each more stylish than the last, delivered in front of a delirious Emirates, and all against the oldest enemy.
He is the first man to score a north London derby hat-trick since Jimmy Brain in 1978, and the first Arsenal player ever to do it as a boyhood Gooner. That combination is pure football romance.
We already suspected Eze possessed rare gifts: the velvet touch, the two-footed sorcery, the ability to glide past defenders as if they were training-ground cones. What we needed to know was whether he could carry those gifts onto the biggest domestic stage English football offers. The answer came wrapped in white and red and screaming off the roof of the net.
His first was cool execution after a lung-busting run. His second a delicious curled finish with the “wrong” foot. The third a cheeky dink that left Fraser Forster grasping at air and half of north London grasping for superlatives. Effortless is the word that kept returning. He made a blood-and-thunder derby look like a gentle Sunday kickabout in the park.
For Eze, the personal significance runs deeper than statistics. Every Arsenal fan who ever wore the shirt dreamed of doing exactly what he did. He grew up one of them, watching from the stands, understanding the visceral hatred of white on the other side of the divide. When he peeled away after the third, arms cupped to ears, he was not just celebrating three goals; he was living every childhood fantasy in real time.
The ripple effects will last far beyond the final whistle. From now on, whenever he collects the ball in red and white, the Emirates will rise a little quicker, believe a little harder. Confidence will course through him like electricity. Bayern Munich on Wednesday, Chelsea the following weekend; opponents who once looked daunting will suddenly appear mortal when a player knows an entire stadium has fallen irreversibly in love.
Some moments define careers. This was one. Eberechi Eze just wrote himself into Arsenal immortality, and the best part is he knows exactly what it means.
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