Henrikh Mkhitaryan is the first person to complete a hat-trick of assists while teeing up a teammate – Aaron Ramsey – so he can complete a hat-trick of goals since Thierry Henry for Freddie Ljungberg in 2003.
Mkhitaryan provided three assists during Arsenal’s 5-1 thrashing of Everton on Saturday evening.
The 29-year-old teed-up Aaron Ramsey in the sixth minute, followed by Pierre-Emerick Aumabeyang before half-time and Rambo again in the 75th.
According to Bill Edgar from the Times (£), this made the Armenian the first Premier League player to complete a hat-trick of assists and help a teammate complete their own (of goals) since Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg against Sunderland in May 2003.
When Mkhitaryan set up Ramsey for Arsenal’s fifth goal vs #EFC it was the first PL case of a player completing a hat-trick of assists by teeing up a team-mate for his hat-trick since Henry, also of Arsenal, did so for Ljungberg vs Sunderland in May 2003. https://t.co/6xBIfymrYZ pic.twitter.com/DoW8oX9WXa
— AFCPressWatch (@AFCPressWatch2) February 5, 2018
The two Arsenal legends were on fire during the Gunners’ final Premier League game of the season, which they won 4-0. Henry opened the scoring himself in the seventh minute and went on to assist all three of Ljungberg’s goals.
It’s fascinating that no other Premier League team has managed to do the same for 15 years.
Whether this has anything to do with Arsenal’s passing, selfless style of play, which we’ve started to get back to since Alexis Sanchez sloped off to Manchester United, or whether it’s just a coincidence, I don’t know.
It’s a pretty illusive stat.
Mkhi already has 50% of the Premier League assists he managed during his whole year-and-a-half at United.