Arsenal 2 – 0 Middlesborough Player Ratings by KJ
Szczesny – 6
Wasn’t challenged at all by the opposition. A very comfortable game thanks to our outfield players.
Chambers -7
Did well to get forward and made good passes and overlaps but never did anything spectacularly. It was comfortable for him and he’s clearly a more defensive full back than Gibbs.
Gabriel – 7
A good debut for the Brazilian. No real mistakes and made a couple of good last ditch tackles. His raw pace really aids his game.
Koscielny – 7
He was calm and composed. Played good offensive passes as Gabriel was the more defensive of the duo.
Gibbs – 8
He was our best defender today and had something to prove. He was defensively sound and aided a lot with overlapping runs as well as intelligent movement into the LW position at the edge of the box. That’s something that Monreal does regularly but not Gibbs.
Flamini – 6
Didn’t have much to do defensively and was adequate from an offensive standpoint.
Cazorla – 8.5
He was phenomenal as usual. He completely controlled the game in central midfield and kept applying pressure with his dribbles and intelligent passing. His pre-assist for the first goal was sublime.
Alexis – 7
He was pretty poor in the first half aside from his assist but stepped it up in the second half with good movement, passing and dribbling. He should’ve scored but did well to get in those positions.
Özil – 8.5 (MOTM)
He was brilliant today. Completely destroyed Middlesborough’s defence throughout the game. His skills, passing and dribbling was a different level today.
Welbeck – 7
He was okay for the majority of the game. Considering the level of the other players, you’d expect better but he’s only recently come back from injury and he’s playing out of position.
Giroud – 8
A top performance by the Frenchman. Scored both goals with supreme finishing and was a constant threat to their defence.
Subs:
Rosicky – 7
Came on and kept the tempo at a good level to prevent Middlesborough from ever really building up ahead of steam.
Walcott – 6
Came on and had a great one on one chance that he didn’t take. He’s not as clinical as he used to be, personally.
Akpom – N/A
Didn’t have enough time to affect the game.
Ozil is the best body feint dribbler in the premier league. Hardly any stepovers or tricks just body movement and pure majesty. He, santi and sanchez were a joy to watch.
Wish I could give your post 10 ‘likes’ 🙂 🙂
Haha
Welbeck – 7 and Walcot – 6 leaves wondering what game you were watching….for the few minutes minutes he came on Walcot forced 2saves from boro’s good goal keeper compared to nothing at all from welbeck for all the time he played except running around the pitch like a head less chicken. And then chambers – 7 for doing what???? he just kept on passing the ball on to defenders legs and didn’t really have any defending to do since we were attacking and attacking.
Welbeck is a BIG pity.
To be honest he has a lot of qualities. Extremely quick. Has a nice eye for for goal and natural movement but hasn’t quite got the finishing to compliment it.
Question is what had they been doing with him down there at united? He is soooo raw.
The most disappointing thing about his performance yesterday was his closing down and defending. Again he has all the qualities to do that job. He is full of energy. He is quick to react and is strong. But he looked confused in his pressing and tracking back.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying he has potential because that boat has definitely sales but he is a work in progress and Walcott is the starter.
Just wondering… what do you mean when saying – has a nice eye for goal, then you say – hasnt got the finishing to complement. To me having an eye for goal is a good finisher and has always meant this.
Tout Gibbs showed real attacking skills in this game – good dribbling skills as well..
All in all a great performance and a clean sheet…
I think we played well, Boro didn’t play like a championship side and we still squeezed them out of the game….I see them taking points off a lot of the so called bigger teams in the BPL next season…….I loved the urgency in our game both in attack and in closing down…..Well done Gunners,
Nice run on to a beautiful pass but Theo’s got to do better with his finishing and decision making.
He is just coming back from an Injury and we won so we will forgive him but you’ve got to put those away in tighter games. Maybe he run out of puff and that effected his finish but I personally think finishing and making the right decision in front of goal is a natural gift. Think of Thierry, and you know he would have scored that.. But who is TH!
Ozil was I have to say electric yesterday.
Alexis struggled s but but there were flashes of an awesome partnership between he and Ozil. This could be special!!
Saint Santi…what can you say. Another demonstration of inventiveness, skill and execution.
& Gabrihell angel of death had a solid debut but needs to step up his hair laquer regime I feel. What is clear is that he has the right stuff and will undoubtedly leave a mound of felled opposition in his wake!
Good day at the office all round!
Oooh my oooh my we have been listening to Mr Michael Owen a bit too much. Nothing wrong with that finish yesterday. Goalie guessed right by not coming out or going to ground. Walcott got it wrong.
It happens even to messi.
Walcott is a good finisher. Better than Owen was. Owen’s main attribute was pace and acceleration.
Ozil and carzola were majestic yesterday!!..they both deserve a 10..
Great performance, Arsene seems extremely serious having tasted the sweetness of winning a silverware again last season, just look at the team he put out and how they approached the game, a few years ago, he would put half or more fringe players in this cup competition. Great team to watch on its good day, Ozil, Sanchez, Carzola,…well anyone who loves soccer including spuds fans would ditch their best friends wedding to watch them in action.
Another game that proves we are almost invincible when given enough time on the ball. What concerns me is when the opposition get stuck in and apply pressure, like Spurs did – our smaller players like Cazorla and pretty much our whole midfield just cannot seem to cope and get bullied off the ball. Wenger still needs to incorporate some steel into that midfield and until he does this, we will always look great against weaker teams but struggle against tougher teams with better tactics.
Yes Schneiderlin for summer. We can play against the big teams with Schneiderlin & Coquelin. The Lin brothers.
Wats the rumour about Carzola to A.madrid?
@Kotte,
I need an explanation as well. Please, when you get one, let me know.
Just a rumour.
For me Gibbs was my man of the match. But I ddnt like the chances we wasted and counter attacks we slowed down…..Ozil was taking that extra touch which really slowed our counters and for that he shouldnt be the MOTM!
Well It was a good day for the gunners but it is important not to pepper over cracks:
i) Giroud has no pace: More two times he was through on goal but couldn’t capitalize as ‘he doesn’t have the legs’. It now seems to be psychological.
ii) Alexis dribbles too much: He dribbles and dribbles and loses the ball. But at least he tracks back, outruns his defender trying to escape with the ball and grab it back.
iii) Welbeck has no ball control: Danny Welbeck has no ball control at all especially in front of goal and looks all the more poor when cast with Carzola and Ozil. He missed two-three golden chances yesterday and should not get a 7
iv) Gabriel has so much more pace than Mertesacker and is physical too.
v) Walcott needs to step up: It is time Walcott stepped up. Given Wenger chose him over Bale, Walcott has not done justice to himself not withstanding his injuries. He should at least shoot on goal now that his pace is undiminished.
Eve Akpom need to work on his ball control too!
Nice negativity there.
Yeah he dribbles. That is part of his game. It creates space for others and breaks the shape of the opponents. Negative is he loses the ball once in a blue moon which he more often then not presses the ball back.
Walcott has stepped it up and who says it was him or bale. Bale was a LB back the and Walcott was a RW. Bale would have been great but so is Walcott.
Harsh to judge him on a subbed performance and he wasn’t that bad.
And yes giroud has no pace. So what? We all know he doesnt. What he adds to the team isn’t about his pace.
That takes the biscuit for the glass half empty post of the day. You are missing the point or stating the bleeding obvious on all 5 observations.
Delighted with the Win. Into the final 8 (draw tonight- honestly I feel good about playing anyone)
However, with Ozil and Cazorla’s masterful display you would have thought there would have been more goals.
Anyway, we have responded well to the Spurs game with 2 wins. Now we need to defeat Crystal Palace away before Monaco at home.
That was about as emphatic as a 2-0 win gets. Never seems to be the “right score” – 5-0 and this site would have been overflowing with Boro are rubbish and we should have scored more.
Just hoping that Preston North ENDS Manchester United’s run in the FA Cup tonight.
Sanchez doesn’t call the wrong number. When he dials, you pick up
For me CAZORLA IS MOTM
Two moments in the game that caused my jaw to drop:
1. Ozil applying pressure on the Boro defense early in the game and gesturing to his mates for assistance when he realized he was there all by himself.
2. Giroud running back to the edge of our penalty area after a Boro player with the ball.
For me these were examples of a great commitment by all our players