The Hawthorns has always been a tough place to visit particularly against a strong and muscly team that is managed by Tony Pulis. Pulis’ West Brom are having an impressive campaign as they are currently 8th in the league table and were set to host Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal following two consecutive defeats over Crystal Palace and Everton.
The Gunners, on the other hand, were having a rough patch following 10-2 hammering (over two legs) by Bayern Munich and three league defeats in last four outings that have put them out of top four temporarily. The fixture against the Baggies was an opportunity for Wenger to get back to winning ways.
However, things did not turn out like they had hoped as Arsenal suffered a shambolic 3-1 defeat that has now piled more pressure on the Frenchman regarding his position at the club as Gunners’ boss.
Below are the Arsenal players rated from the fixture.
Petr Cech: 6
The veteran conceded early when defender Craig Dawson nodded home from Nacer Chadli’s corner from the left. He denied James McClean and also pulled off a spectacular save to parry Darren Fletcher’s volley before being forced off the pitch with a hamstring pull.
Hector Bellerin: 5
Had a quiet outing as he struggled to contain the Baggies’ attackers and could not match their power and physicality. Did not contribute much in attack either.
Shkodran Mustafi: 5.5
The Germany international had a mixed outing as he struggled throughout to deal with Baggies’ set-pieces, particularly corners as they kept on posing aerial threats repeatedly. However, he saved his side from further embarrassment as he managed to block Chadli’s strike on the line. Did well to contain Salomon Rondon.
Laurent Koscielny: 4.5
An afternoon to forget for the Frenchman as he failed both physically as well as aerially against ‘Pulisball’. Arsenal conceded twice from corners and the defender should have done better on both occasions.
Nacho Monreal: 4.5
Was troubled by Nacer Chadli continuously and had little to offer in attack as well.
Granit Xhaka: 6
Xhaka had added responsibility in midfield as Wenger went for an attacking lineup benching his midfield partner Francis Coquelin. The Swiss international should have done better from a defensive point of view as the likes of Chris Brunt, Jake Livermore and Darren Fletcher kept on creating pressure and counter attacks in midfield. However, his sublime pass for Alexis Sanchez levelled the scoreline at one stage of the game.
Aaron Ramsey: 5.5
Could not make his 200th Premier League appearance special as his effort was denied by Ben Foster early into the game. Failed to create any further impact to upturn the fate of the game.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 5
Was largely unnoticed and failed to create any impact. Made a few good runs with no end product.
Alexis Sanchez: 6.5
The Chilean continued his goal-scoring run as he equalised within 15 minutes from a perfect build-up consisting of 19 passes. Other than that, he had a quiet outing as he was kept isolated by the West Brom back-line before being replaced by Alex Iwobi towards the end.
Theo Walcott: 5
Walcott had an opportunity to tap in from six yards within six minutes into the game. He made no noteworthy contribution otherwise and was replaced by Olivier Giroud midway through the second half.
Danny Welbeck: 5.5
The England international was isolated on most occasions, however, he made a few decent runs to break the Baggies’ back-line and almost scored one when his side was down by 2-1 and in search of another equaliser. But he was unlucky as his header rattled against the bar from an Arsenal corner.
Substitutes
David Ospina: 4.5
Came on as a first half substitute in place of Petr Cech. Failed to collect Chadli’s ball and Hal Robson-Kanu made no mistake to finish from 10 yards. Did well to deny Robson-Kanu 10 minutes later.
Olivier Giroud: 5
Giroud has made a positive impact this campaign coming from the bench and Wenger brought him in place of Walcott with a hope of similar influence. But the Frenchman could not alter the scoreline as he was largely unnoticed since his arrival.
Alex Iwobi: 5
Came in place of fatigued Alexis; failed to create anything spectacular.
