Man City 0 – 2 Arsenal Player Ratings by KJ
Ospina – 7.5
Surprisingly had very little to do in this game. Claimed the ball well enough from set pieces and was relatively commanding. Did make a couple of decent saves late on when City ramped up the pressure.
Bellerin – 8
He was brilliant today considering he’s only 19 years old. He’s had to play against the likes of Dortmund away and struggled but was completely fine against the likes of Clichy, Milner and Silva.
Mertesacker – 8
A calm composed performance from the captain. He was never exposed by his defensive midfielders meaning he only needed to keep the spaces tight to ensure City didn’t have much joy in the middle.
Koscielny – 8.5
A masterful performance from the Frenchman. He done a “job” on Aguero today. Provided him with little to no space near our area to turn or to get the shot away forcing him to pass it back to midfield.
Monreal – 8.5
He had a very good performance today. Assured defending for most of the game as well as a good attacking presence. He won the penalty and ensured that Zabaleta had his fair share of defending to do which forced him further back than he would’ve liked.
Coquelin – 8.5
A surprisingly brilliant performance by the Frenchman. It was only a month ago he was on loan at Charlton and here he was dominating defensively against Man City at the Etihad. Never gave Silva space to operate and was always ready to clear the ball when it came into the box.
Ramsey – 7.5
He was good defensively and did well to move the ball offensively but his passing and touch was off. No surprise as he’s been out for more than a month and was clearly rusty.
Oxlade-Chamberlain – 8
He was very good today. He helped relieve the pressure with good dribbling and his passing choice was overall very smart. He also helped Bellerin enough defensively to prevent him being doubled up by City players.
Cazorla – 9 (MOTM)
An absolutely phenomenal performance. It had everything. He defended when needed, dribbled through City numerous times with powerful runs as well as keeping his cool during the set pieces. It was a magical display and shows a mental toughness from someone who you’d expect to hide in these big games.
Alexis – 7
He was poor today offensively. He did some good things but misplaced too many passes or was dispossessed too quickly allowing City to counter. He still did well defensively meaning he gets a decent score.
Giroud – 8
His performances against the big teams this season have been absolutely brilliant. He holds up play smartly and passes to the right player most of the time. This is such a turnaround in comparison to his performances last season. It’s great to see. He is also scoring in these big games as well as he did today.
Subs:
Rosicky – 7.5
He came on and helped keep the ball for the final 20-25 minutes. He made smart passes and ensured that he took pressure off the defence when he moved forward.
Gibbs – 7
He came on and done his job. Doubled up on Zabaleta and provided a pacey outlet on the counter as a LW.
Flamini – 4
He didn’t really do anything defensively and had the easiest of chances to cut back a pass to Giroud for the third goal but somehow allowed a City player to block it.