This was probably the easiest choice of which of the Arsenal players to give the Man of the Match award to ever. Even if the little magician that is Santi Cazorla had not been given the chance to show his nerves of steel by drilling the injury time penalty straight down the middle to give the Gunners a barely deserved win over Southampton, he was by far the best Arsenal player on the pitch. Honourable mentions go to the warrior and overhead kick specialist Laurent Koscielny, his new partner Mustafi and the excellent Francis Coquelin.
Cech 6 – Unlucky for own goal but positioning was suspect. Played well apart from that.
Bellerin 6 – Some good stuff but not at his best.
Mustafi 7 – Excellent debut. Looks like the boss has a proper partner.
Koscielny 7.5 – Solid and committed and great vital goal.
Monreal 6 – A few silly fouls but decent all round game.
Coquelin 7.5 – Combative, committed and everywhere. He also grew into the game going forward.
Cazorla 8.5 – Superb from Santi who dragged the rest of the team along with him after a terrible start by us.
Ozil 6 – A rare off day with some good points but with his ability it should have been more.
Walcott 6 – Good running and movement but did not come off for him today.
Chamberlain 6 – Tried hard but things are not quite clicking.
Perez 5 – The best I can say is that he got better.
subs:
Giroud and Alexis Sanchez 6 – Made a difference.
Iwobi 5 – Did not make much difference.
Bob.