Arsenal 3 – 0 Stoke Player Ratings by KJ
Ospina – 6.5
Didn’t have anything to do for the majority of the game. Had to make a couple of decent saves near the end but wasn’t tested properly.
Debuchy – 6
He was playing well until he was injured by Arnautovic. It seems like he’ll be out for a few months with a dislocated shoulder which is tragic. This season has basically been a write-off for him.
Mertesacker – 7
Wasn’t tested much at all defensively. Did his job properly anyway and was never really exposed.
Koscielny – 7.5
Similar to Mertesacker, never really tested. He did score a great headed goal to open the scoring at the Emirates.
Monreal – 7.5
He was really good today. Constantly overlapped in attack and provided a good passing outlet at all times. He was defensively strong as well and was rarely exposed.
Coquelin – 6
It was a pretty average performance by him. Didn’t do anything special and lost the ball a lot later on in the game.
Cazorla – 8
A quality performance by our little Spanish magician once again. His close control is phenomenal allowing him to keep the ball in unfavourable situations.
Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7
He was pretty good today. Used his dribbling effectively, was always involved in our attacks and made a lot of things happen in offensive areas.
Rosicky – 7
Another decent performance by the Czech. He just adds a lot of zip to our attack with his direct dribbling.
Alexis – 8.5 (MOTM)
Genius. He is relentless with his performances. He just doesn’t give the opposition an inch and he constantly punishes them for making mistakes. It’s beautiful to watch.
Giroud – 7
A solid striker’s performance. He physically outmuscled Shawcross on numerous occasions allowing us to keep possession in the final third.
Subs:
Bellerin – 7
Came on fairly early for the injured Debuchy and looked comfortable. He needs these games against smaller teams at home to acclimatise to the pace and power of the Premier League.
Walcott – 5
He came on and wasn’t really involved much. He did get a chance one on one but scuffed the shot. It’s going to take time for him. His runs are still perfect and he still seems to have the pace but his touch and finishing needs fine tuning and it’ll come with more game time.
Özil – 6
Came on fairly late and looked understandably rusty. There was still moments of magic and you can see he’s actually bulked up over the last three months meaning he’ll be able to cope with the physical battle a bit better now.
Kash