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Former Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United manager Harry Redknapp has praised Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah for his performance against Manchester United.
Nketiah was the star of the show as the Gunners picked up a 3-2 win over the Red Devils in an engaging Premier League encounter at the Emirates on January 22. The Englishman scored a first-half equalizer with a superb header before hooking home the winner from close range in the final minute of regulation.
Redknapp recently picked his Premier League Team of the Week from the most recent set of fixtures for betting site BetVictor. He chose Nketiah to lead his frontline alongside Manchester City's serial goalscorer Erling Haaland and reasoned:
"A lot of people worried about Arsenal after [Gabriel] Jesus got injured but Nketiah has come in and more than delivered. The lad deserves loads of credit and I liked what I saw from him yesterday.
"His movement in the box was fantastic and he made both finishes look easy. The second especially, that’s a sign of a natural finisher."
Having started the season as Arsenal's second-choice striker behind Gabriel Jesus, Nketiah has led the line brilliantly in the Brazilian's absence. Jesus notably picked up a knee injury that required him to undergo surgery during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Since the conclusion of the World Cup, Nketiah has scored seven times in seven matches across competitions for the Gunners. Overall, he has nine goals and an assist in 25 appearances in all competitions for Mikel Arteta's team.
Here's Harry Redknapp's complete Premier League Team of the Week for last weekend's fixtures:
Nick Pope; Rico Lewis, Thiago Silva, Chris Richards, Max Wober; Douglas Luiz, Kaoru Mitoma, Jarrod Bowen, Marcus Rashford; Erling Haaland, Eddie Nketiah.
"What Eddie is doing is incredible" - Mikel Arteta after Arsenal's win over Manchester United
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was also all praise for Eddie Nketiah after the forward's exploits against Manchester United. He told the Gunners' official website after the victory:
"What Eddie is doing is incredible. We cannot say that we saw that, we were hoping that he could do that because of the way he is, because of his mentality, because of his qualities and how those qualities fit within the team.
"Losing Gabby [Jesus] was a big blow, it is a big blow today, but Eddie is responding and the team I think in an exceptional way."
The win over United took Arsenal to 50 points from 19 Premier League matches. Arteta's team are now five points clear of second-placed Manchester City with a game in hand.
