This was a game that Arsenal fully expected to lose but our makeshift side played extremely well under the circumstances. Man United had twice as many chances as us and 9 corners to our fat zero so it is no wonder that the Arsenal defenders were under the spotlight. And they came out looking good – with the brand new pairing of Mavropanos and Chambers doing a great job. Our defence of the future?
Well here are my ratings….
Ospina 6
Could hardly do anything about either goal, but I still think that Cech is the better option for Thursday…
Bellerin 7
For once the Spaniard had to spend most of his time defending and he did a very good job. Maybe he should stay back more often in future..
Chambers 8
Excellent performance and he linked up well with his new partner to keep out a very strong United forward line. Mourinho changed tactics to long balls into the box because he couldn’t get past the defence
Mavropanos 8
What a debut from Sven Mislintat’s first signing. Calm, commanding, unfazed and strong. He has a great future. Let’s hope our new chief scout has a few more of these up his sleeve…
Kolasinac 6
One of his better performances but injury prone it seems. good to see him defending well before going off injured (again!)
Xhaka 5
Rubbish in the first half and got booked for a stupid pull-back as usual. Nowhere near a captain’s display. Improved in the second but lucky to have even stayed on the pitch…
Maitland-Niles 8
Excellent performance in his preferred position at last. Another with a great future
Iwobi 6
one of his better performances this season. Improved his possession and passing but very little end product
Nelson 6
Least impressive of the newcomers but got a couple of shots off and showed a bit of promise. Maybe needs a long run out on loan?
Mkhitaryan 7
Was our most potent threat going forward and scored a great goal leaving De Gea stranded. If only he could stay fit all season
Aubameyang 6
It just wasn’t his day. Got into good positions but he lacked pace and hardly worried the United defence
Subs:
Welbeck 7
Very good performance in his half hour. Should be sharp for Thursday
Monreal 5
Didn’t do much and was probably conserving himself for the Madrid game
Willock N/A
Hardly involved at all in his 15 minutes