Arsenal overcame West Brom at the Emirates to jump to 7th in the league standings. It was a tidy performance from the home team who overcame a few first-half jitters to completely outplay the visitors in the second half.
Alexandre Lacazette scored a brace on the night, taking his season’s tally to 4 goals in as many games. Alexis Sanchez too got a good 80 odd minutes under his belt and was lively on the night. Overall, it was a decent performance from the Gunners. Let’s look at how the players fared on the night.
Goalkeeper:
Petr Cech – 8/10
Pulled off a few decent saves, especially helpful in parrying an effort from Jay Rodriguez onto the post after the England international shrugged off Mustafi to get a shot on goal. It’s three clean sheets in a row for Cech!
Defense:
Laurent Koscielny – 7/10
A few loose, uncharacteristic passes from the Frenchman on the night. It seemed to be on paper that he was the central defender in the back three, but was very often seen playing down the right side of the defence.
Shkodran Mustafi – 7/10
Was not the resolute defender he normally is on the night. Almost guilty of conceding a penalty but has Rodriguez to thank for, as the striker stayed on his feet when others could have easily gone down claiming a penalty.
Nacho Monreal – 9/10
Man of the Match. Easily the best performance from Monreal in an Arsenal shirt. Not one bad moment in the entire game. That clearance off the line could easily go down as the best moment of the game. Who knows, if that’d have gone in, could we have seen a different game pan out from there on?
Wingbacks:
Sead Kolasinac – 8/10
An absolute tank in defence and attack. He showed the eagerness to win the ball back and always looked to link up with the forward players. Finally, Arsenal are bearing the fruits of playing him in his preferred position.
Hector Bellerin – 8/10
Another player who has massively benefited from being played in the right position. He was absolutely flawless in attack on the night. A good game to keep his confidence going.
Midfield:
Mohamed Elneny – 7.5/10
This guy exuberates energy, such was his performance on the night. Was quick to close down the opposition when dispossessed and was tidy in his passing. A more than decent performance from the Egyptian on the night.
Granit Xhaka – 5/10
It really takes some doing to perform that badly when the entire team seems to be up for it, but sadly that has been a bit too frequent from Granit Xhaka. In a game where he should have dominated from the word go, he disappointed massively. Misplaced passes and poor positioning, there were no positives from the Swiss international on the night.
Aaron Ramsey – 7.5/10
A decent performance from the Welshman, not as good as the one against Chelsea however. Tried to be a bit too inventive on the night, especially after being given a more advanced role on the night. It was a tireless display though, and he deserves his rating of a seven and a half.
Attack:
Alexis Sanchez – 8/10
Alexis Sanchez just doesn’t like being taken off, does he? For the most part of the night, it seemed like he wanted to score a goal and let bygones be bygones. Always gives his 100% on the pitch and that was on display on the night.
Alexandre Lacazette – 9/10
9 out of 10 for Arsenal’s number 9. A flawless performance from the summer signing. An instinctive header for the first of the night, and an unstoppable penalty for the second. More of the same, please!
Substitutes:
Olivier Giroud – 7/10
Still searching for the elusive 100th goal! Was sharp after coming on but will have to wait to get to that magical number.
Mesut Ozil – 6/10
Came on in place of Sanchez and didn’t do anything of note while on the pitch.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6/10
Anyone who comes on after 90 minutes is usually given a N/A in the player ratings. But this appearance was a special one for the 20-year-old, making his league bow for Arsenal FC.
