An excellent win for Arsenal, especially in those conditions. West Brom were destroyed by our youngsters but not every performance was as good as we would have liked.
Here are my ratings…
Leno – 7
Didn’t have too much to do, but didn’t lose concentration. He still made some great saves at the end.
Bellerin – 7
Played well first half, up front and back. Must have got a knock and replaced not long after half time.
Holding – 7
Once warmed up he had his usual solid performance.
Mari – 7
Mari and Holding make a great team and must surely be first choice now going forward.
Tierney – 9
The hardy Scotsman comes into his own in freezing weather, and he terrorized the West Brom defence. Set the tone early with the perfect individual goal to give us the lead. Definite future captain material.
Ceballos – 7
One of the Spaniard’s better performances, but could that be just because the opposition was poor?
Xhaka – 7
Again, nothing to write home about, but kept the ball moving calmly and cleverly.
Saka – 8.5
I want to give him a 9 but he can’t be MOTM every week. He was brilliant again, but Tierney ran the show in my mind.
Smith Rowe – 8.
Three starts, three wins, three excellent performances. The future is looking bright..
Aubameyang – 6.
It simply isn’t working for Auba at the moment but it is good that we have other players filling the void. Let’s hope his confidence returns soon.
Lacazettte – 8.
Laca is showing as much energy as the youngsters at the moment and should be picked in front of Auba when Martinelli starts in my opinion
Subs:
Maitland-Niles – 6
Did okay but was overshadowed by the brilliance of others.
Willian – 6
I wonder if he is just trying too hard, but at least he was trying.
Willock – 6
Not very influential but Smith-Rowe is a hard act to follow right now.