Arsenal collected a good three points away at Newcastle United this afternoon to get their Premier League campaign off to a winning start.
When you consider how poor they were on the road last season you could not really ask for more. A clean sheet was also very welcomed, especially when there was just the one away from home in the last campaign.
The team did well overall and they did their jobs, some better than others.
Player Ratings
Bernd Leno 6
Made a decent save from Shelvey but in truth had very little to do.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles 7
Had a decent game, created the winner for Aubameyang and overall did ok.
Calum Chambers 7
Thought he did very well, especially when duelling with Joelinton, a duel he won.
Sokratis 6
Did just fine, no real errors and was calm and assured.
Nacho Monreal 6
Was hardly ever tested, would like to have seen more runs down the flanks though.
Matteo Guendouzi 6
His normal busy self but he did lose the ball on occasions and when he attempted the odd dribble he basically went nowhere.
Granit Xhaka 7
Xhaka improved throughout the game and made some crucial interceptions and did show leadership, he did make the odd error but overall I was very satisfied with his performance.
Reiss Nelson 5
Not his best game but he will get better, he did some decent runs but his passing let him down on the day.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan 4
Did not have a good game but the truth is I never expected more from him, he did the occasional decent run but zero end product. Should have been brought off earlier.
Joe Willock 6
I thought the young lad had a good game, he did do a couple of misplaced passes but no more than anyone else, he showed confidence on the ball and will get better.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 8
Did his job and was my man of the match, he was all over the place helping the team out and when we needed him to be clinical he was and that is what makes the difference with the top teams.
Dani Ceballos 5
Average performance in his 30 minutes on the field and so gets an average score.
Nicolas Pepe 5
Basically same as Cellabos, made no mistakes but make no real impression, an average display after coming on as a sub.
Gabriel Martinell 5
Not on long enough to make an impression and so gets the average rating