Arsenal’s four games winning run came to an end as they were held to a 1-1 draw Leicester City at the Emirates.
The Gunners would have earned all the points but for the red card to Eddie Nketiah and a host of missed opportunities. Here are the Arsenal player ratings v Leicester City.
Emiliano Martinez – 8
Continues to impress with great saves to deny Kelechi Iheanacho twice and Jamie Vardy on at least one occasion.
Came off his line well on a number of occasions, and could do nothing about the goal.
Shkodran Mustafi – 7
Another fine performance from the German who was hell-bent on making sure Jamie Vardy didn’t get a sniff at the Arsenal goal. Threw his body on the line all game and made a fine block to deny Vardy a certain goal.
David Luiz – 6
Good performance all round, but struggled to deal with the menace that Jamie Vardy is. Struck a fine free-kick that would have been in but for a fine save.
Sead Kolasinac – 6
A lot more comfortable than in other games. Did well to always win the ball high up the pitch as Arsenal stopped Leicester City from nearing their goal in the first half.
He was fouled easily for a disallowed Iheanacho goal.
Hector Bellerin – 7
Fine display on the attack. Nearly scored a goal from a disguised shot, and his inch-perfect cross for Alexandre Lacazette should have been turned in for a goal.
Dani Ceballos – 8
Continued his fine run of form. Dominated the midfield and made the Gunners tick. Involved in the build-up to the goal and he was also one of the hardest working players off the ball.
Granit Xhaka – 6
Did his best to make sure Arsenal held on and made good use of possession. He was defensively aware and didn’t hide when the team went a man down.
Kieran Tierney – 8
A fine day at the office for him again. Did well to cover at the back when Leicester attacked, yet he was available to support Arsenal’s attack and did so with some dangerous low-crosses.
Bukayo Saka – 8
Provided a fine assist for Arsenal’s goal, almost scored another goal himself. Was heavily involved when Arsenal attacked, although he wasn’t seen enough again in the second half.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7
Got his 20th goal of the season with a fine finish at the end of Saka’s cross. He almost turned provider soon afterwards. Pressed high, but he struggled to impact the game late in the second half when the Gunners went down to ten men.
Alexandre Lacazette – 6
Heavily involved in Arsenal’s attacks in the first half, but missed a glorious chance to score and forced a fine save from Peter Schmeichel. His hold up play was good, but he needs to start taking his chances.
Substitutes
Eddie Nketiah – 1
Subbed on for Lacazette and got himself sent off. Not his fault, but he cost his team their momentum and two points.
Joe Willock – 5
Tried to get Arsenal back in the game, but his teammates were more interested in avoiding a defeat.
Lucas Torriera – 5
Came on to help the Gunners win some of the midfield battles.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – N/A
Ratings from Ime
Good ratings.
As difficult as it is to focus on the positives given how desperate we are to get into Europe, the first half was the best I’ve seen arsenal play in years. It really has been quite an incredible turnaround. I think if we’d have expected this when Arteta joined, we’d have been considered greedy. Suddenly, the lack of funds for this window don’t seem quite so depressing when the team as a whole are playing so well.
For the first time in a long time, I feel very hopeful.
Lacazette’s hold-up play was good, but he is inconsistent, too slow and too short to be a false nine. If our CF is instructed to lure the opposition’s CBs like what Firmino does, we need a taller target man who is quicker than Lacazette
If we have a big CF who is willing to be a super sub, Tierney’s crosses wouldn’t be so wasteful and we’d be more threatening in dead ball situations
Ceballos was excellent with his creative turns though. The last midfielder who could make such unexpected ball redirections consistently at Arsenal was Sanchez
Exactly, we are missing someone in the mold of Giroud, as a target man. Luckily no one is discussing Ozil now and how much me miss him, blah, blah, blah, boo hoo hoo
You just did. Give it a rest.
I dont think firminho Is faster thank laca.
Laca to me was the best player with Ceballos.
Ceballos and Tierney for me 👌👌👌
Sue I know it is early days but I believed that something had clicked on with Ceballos,😀
Me too, Siamois… and I’m loving what I see!! So much energy, always looking to go forward… very skilful – at Brighton he even nutmegged Laca 😂😂😂 Keep it up, Dani!!
you’re right about him looking to go forward, that’s one thing we’ve missing in midfield for few years now like you said long it may continue!,,👍
We could get three point if Lucazete finishes the game…the likes wilock and Nakitah can’t be compared with Dani Ceb ,Lucas Tr and Lucazete ..let us always start with likes Lucas tr in the midfield and Lucazete as a forward.
We played some good stuff, good passing, free flowing football, in the first half.
Ratings are about right, though I’d give Mustafi an 8 and Luiz a 7.
But @Ime saying it was not Nketiah’s fault he got sent off, who’s bloody fault was it then?
Does someone always have to be at fault? Do we always have to find a scapegoat? Like the coach says, we need to suffer together. We want to enjoy the victory, but then we want to burn someone when things don’t work. Like I said on previous articles, If Nketiah chooses to make that same challenge 100 times, I support him 100 times.
You did Joe
And I hope that by getting sent off does not make him a scapegoat as it is a team game. But it was actually nobody else’s fault that Nketiah made the challenge
I find it fair to fault a player when they make an unnescessary mistake. But when it’s one that comes out of sheer passion to compete, I prefer to pat them on the back and say next time better. Because to be honest, that’s what we’ve been missing at the club. Aggression. I’d want all our players to put a foot in like that. Look at man city strikers. Better still, look at how fast vardy was closing down Mustafi everytime. Any of those times, he could have mistimed and ploughed straight into him, but he kept doing it ,and in turn, it meant we didn’t have the usual passing lane between Mustafi and Saka/Laca . We need all our players to keep being aggressive like that. The other time , the pressure yielded , and we got a goal. This time , when it goes bad, we should just say sorry it didn’t work. next time better. Not pointing fingers.
Joe
Nketiah made a red card challenge. It was not vindictive but that is not the point as it could have caused a serious injury
Of course, no one wants to stifle enthusiasm and determination ; and determination and collective responsibility is something that Arteta is focusing on which is improving the team
Mostly I think red card offences are just mistimed challenges.
Vardy kicked Mustafi in the head and it wasn’t even looked at!
Not saying Vardy meant it but it constituted dangerous play. That’s why Arteta was upset at the inconsistency, in that he believed there should have been a Leicester player sent off around the 45 minute mark.
I completely agree!👍
Ozziegunner, absolutely correct and if it was an Arsenal player, be absolutely certain that the media would have dissected it in minute detail.
Also, what is stopping the FA from looking and banning Vardey retrospectively?
That’s right, it’s Leicester, so nothing will be done.
Brendon Rogers ex Liverpool, big favourite with the powers that be
The lad was enthusiastic, wanted to score, let us not criticize him, let him learn from this mistake and improve his decision making and reflexes.
Lehman cost us our UCL final, Kos cost us our League cup in 2011, Auba missed a penalty last year which could have got us into the UCL,let us support Eddie. We played a good game, and before that Eddie too had decent games. We played a top 4 and were on the verge of a win, so cheers to the team and prepare well to trash our neighbors.
The fact that our GK was our best player suggests that Leicester created a number of chances which they did.Our failure to control the midfield is a continuing problem which stems from playing a defensive back three system.Due to their lack of pace, our back three are obliged to lie deep and are unable to maintain pressure on the opposition.The sooner we revert to a flat back four and play Saka down the left flank the better.I was pleased with the performances of Bellerin, Tierney and Ceballos but I thought Xhaka was anonymous throughout.Basically there is a lack of speed and athleticism in our back three and central midfield pair which will always be exploited by the better sides.That needs to change.
I sort of wonder what game you were watching, most especially first half. Both teams pressed high and fast . Even in the second half before the water break , it was a bit of a 50-50 game. Granit was anonymous? really ? you’re sure you’re not in a bit of blame game innertia?
Also , while I respect your old school style, any winger that plays on the same side as his stronger foot in this day and age , is likely to just become a fullback. You’ll hardly find any team worth its salt playing a winger on the same side as his stronger foot. Crossing is for fullbacks/wingbacks. Wingers cut back and shoot so contrary to what you’re saying, I think Saka needs to master that right side channel.
Agreed jo ,we should have been 3-0 at half time ,Luiz and mustafi was solid through out ,our passing was as quick and as precise as I’ve seen in ages .
Leicester had chances but never did we look in to much trouble .
Dan, in too many games Arsenal has missed chances to put games to bed, resulting in draws and in some cases losses. This was 2 points thrown away, but a good effort to get a draw with 10 men.
Until the sending off we were the better team,with 11 players we would have won the game!you should know that statistics on their own don’t tell the whole story especially with 10 men for over 40 minutes ,after that sending off they were always going to target our midfield and create more chances,even then they struggled to score and I won’t talk about their goal!the fact that fans are disappointed that we drew 1-1 with Leicester while playing with 10 men(40 mns)should show the progress made by the team under MA,like him I am proud of all of of them!
I certainly thought Martinez was a star for us. The score line could have looked very different without him
Same could be said for Schmeikel.
Yes ozziegunner he was good too.
In response to your point about Vardy earlier, I quite agree that it was dangerous play. Sadly this was not picked up on
Martinez was excellent so watch out Leno
I agree with Declan
All players deserve an 8, Bellerin Ceballos and Tierny a 9.
Coach could have been a 9 but made a huge mistake to sub Laca who was doing fine, would have scored as he was getting close to do so or an assist.
Should have rested Ceballos for Niles and 3 points were ours. He gets a 6 for this major blow coating us a win.
Laca could have been on that pitch another 4 weeks and he still wouldn’t have scored ,he should have had a race in the 1st half .
We should be blaming VAR and the great refereeing in this country .
Dan, and people wonder why no referees from the EPL are chosen to officiate at the World Cup.
Brace *
Joe you are beginning to annoy me.As someone who played football at a semi professional level and scouted for a decade thereafter I really don’t need you to tell me about modern day tactics .As for your sarcastic comments on my views on Xhaka, I focus on the facts and in my view Xhaka and for that matter, Kolasinac did not contribute much last night.
You seemingly don’t understand tactics. You’re seemingly stuck in some old period. The fact that you were a pro at something doesnt perpetually make you the most knowledgeable at it and you clearly show that your knowledge on topics is rather outdated.
see guys watch for arsenal next season.
Tierney was my motm and love his old school style.His shot reminded me of a certain roberto carlos.
Laca,auba and saka should have done more and i explained why in a previous article.
I also feel kolasinac gets caught out of possession most of the time he tried to close down.
Xhaka and ceballos seems to have good chemistry and the moment ceballos came off we couldnt even move the ball forward.And i also feel that we have become a counter attacking team than a possession based attack.
Dont get me wrong,i am not blaming anyone but i am pointing out what i see and i will back MA no matter what and that doesnt mean i have to be a blind follower.This team is going in the right direction and players will make mistakes along the way.Trust the process.Trust MA
COYG
Check out Tierney 40 yards goal … he can hit it apparently
In Mikel I trust…..
Joleon Lescott said “If he (JV) has meant that, he should not be in football, he should be a karate instructor”
Stupid statement from a stupid pundit
Not you Sue, LOL, Love your statements
😄
Agree with all except “Laca and peter Schmeichel” point =)
Nkeitah did a mistake but give him a break he is young and I’m sure MA will say something to him. My biggest fear is from LA not scoring this much of chances.
14 draws is really too much!
Ridiculous mark for the youngster Martin, wasn’t the worst tackle I’ve ever seen and should have been a yellow only. the fact he was on the pitch for only four minutes, a mark should have been withdrawn. Sorry but to give him one was an insult>
An insult? Absolutely right getting himself sent off for a dangerous tackle that was a red card all day long that then cost the team severely. He was lucky to get a 1. I have to be honest and say I am shocked at how some of our fans have reacted to this, blame everyone else except the one person that is truly at fault.
Not you Sue LOL, Love your statements