For those who have followed Eberechi Eze’s career, the sight of him wheeling away to celebrate an important goal towards the end of the season will not come as a surprise.
Tottenham Hotspur fans, though, will be happy not to come up against the Arsenal forward again until next season.
Eze has scored 40 Premier League goals in his six league seasons, with 19 coming from the 30th game onwards.
Basically, the England international has a record of netting goals late in the campaign, when it matters most.
Eze, who scored the winning goal for Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final last season against Manchester City, has tormented Spurs since turning them down last summer to sign for the Gunners.
Having netted a hat-trick in the 4-1 north London derby win back in November, another two followed in Sunday’s crucial encounter at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“He had that belief and I’m really happy with him. He’s really trying to mould and adapt into what we want from him,” said boss Mikel Arteta.
Ironically, Eze’s other league goal this season came against his former side Palace in a 1-0 win in October, which means all his league goals this term have come against those two teams.
And after his brace in Arsenal’s latest thumping of their rivals, only Robert Pires (seven) and Emmanuel Adebayor (six) have more Premier League goals for the Gunners against Tottenham than Eze’s five.
He is also the first Arsenal player to score five or more goals against an opponent in the same top-flight season since Adebayor against Derby in 2007-08 (six).
Supporters had already taken to the 27-year-old because of the way he signed for the club, turning down Spurs to join them instead in a £60m deal, but the goals he has scored are the icing on the cake.
