It was a dour game all-in-all at Man City last night, and at times it seemed more like a tactical battle between the chess players in the dugout, but at least we had Saka to give us some hope of nicking a goal. A shinig star in a very barren sky!
Here are my Player Ratings…
Leno 5
I am not happy with Leno at all. I am absolutely certain that Martinez would have caught the ball that led to the goal, and the one near the end that could have finished us off. But (obviously!) we are not going to get into a discussion about spilt milk…
Bellerin 5
The Spaniard is still hot-and-cold as far as I am concerned. He is certainly not in the class that could play for Man City.
Luiz 6
Considering he was thrown in after Holding was injured in the warm up, he did well. Lately, Luiz does seem to play better against the big teams and he was pretty solid yesterday, barring the occasional blip!
Gabriel 6
Obviously not totally settled into the team yet and had his nervous moments, but I am certain he is going to improve our defensive stats this season.
Tierney 7
Don’t you just love watching him bomb down the wing. He’s not afraid of a tackle either but was definitely targeted by Man City. Pep must appreciate how dangerous he is…
Xhaka 6
Another solid performance from Xhaka, nothing spectacular but he is in a confident mood at the moment.
Ceballos 5
He is a trier for sure, but he could rarely come up with anything productive against Man City. Mind you, he can’t do everything on his own can he?
Saka 8
If he carries on playing like this he is a superstar of the future. Not scared to have a go, hecame close to scoring a couple of times, and was certainly not out of his depth. Easily Man Of The Match.
Pepe 5
He still has not yet learned to handle the Premier League, especially at this level. Very little impact.
Willian 5
I’m only giving him a 5 as he was played out of position, but also out of his depth. Not much else to say.
Aubameyang 6
Captain my captain! Didn’t get much service but looked good whenever he got the ball. But nothing to write home about today.
Subs
Lacazette 4
Replaced Willian and was lively, but I think in 22 minutes he only actually touched the ball about 5 times, and only two of those went to an Arsenal player.
Partey N/A
Welcome to Arsenal. But had no time to assert himself on the game.
Nketieh N/A
Like Partey, he only had 8 minutes on the field, but both made much more impact than Lacazette!