Arsenal fans at last have a reason to smile as the Gunners destroyed a makeshift West Brom team that was giving six youngsters their senior debuts, so it was by no means a surprise.
But you can only beat what is in front of you, and it was great to see Arsenal playing attacking football with style and confidence.
As Arteta said after the game: “When you lose a game, you have to win as quickly as possible. Today’s match is going to give us some confidence. We had some players playing their first minutes – for example Auba – so to get some minutes and score three goals is going to be great for his confidence. Overall I think [it was] a really positive night.”
So here are my player ratings….
Ramsdale- 8
Considering Arsenal’s superiority, our debutante was still forced to make some good saves. He can only improve as he gets to know his defenders better.
Chambers- 5
I know he hasn’t layed for some time, but he missed an opportunity to impress the boss.
Holding- 5
Not his best performance but not his worst either. I’m sure he will improve with game time.
Kolasinac- 6
A great performance by his standards, but I’m sure this will be his last game in an Arsenal shirt.
Tavares- 7
Very lively in attack and defence. Perhaps he will be our first-choice right back this season?
Xhaka- 8
He is the man in charge at the moment. A cool experienced head to teach our kids to be calm under pressure.
Elneny- 5
Made one good pass but yet again was hardly impressive. Last choice midfielder in my eyes.
Pepe- 8
Pretty good game and we can hope he kicks on this season. If he could only get the ball inside the post a little more often!
Odegaard- 7
Looking good and I expect him to improve much more with game time.
Saka- 9
Looking very sharp indeed – I’m sure he can cause havoc in the City defence if he gets over his knock.
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Auba- 10
I know he should be bossing these West Brom kids all day, but he did it with style. Great to see he has found his scoring boots again.
Sub
Laca- 7
Excellent poachers goal to finish us off.