On a day where the North London was divided into the colours of Red and White, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium hosted Spurs in a crucial London derby. Pochettino’s men have been in sublime form beating the likes of Real Madrid and putting up stern tests against Manchester United and hence, Arsenal needed to step up at any cost and that’s exactly what they did.
Two quick goals from Shkodran Mustafi and Alexis Sanchez propelled Arsenal to a superb lead and they held on brilliantly to get yet another home win. Here’s how the Gunners have been rated:-
GK: Petr Cech – 7/10
Needed to be alert on early occasions and had to get his hands on a deflected header from Kane. Did well to get early to some balls as well. A clean-sheet is a huge bonus.
RWB: Hector Bellerin – 6/10
Gave Davies space a lot of times in the first half but he did turn out to be decent on few occasions. Needs to improve a bit more and get his form back.
CB: Laurent Koscielny – 7.5/10
Fantastic tonight! His challenges were really accurate and he showed up as a leader when Arsenal needed it the most.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 7/10
He came back into the team for a big game and he fared really well. His opener which was a beautiful header was absolutely crucial and it shifted the momentum in Arsenal’s favour. Great game for the German.
CB: Nacho Monreal – 6.5/10
Complimented his fellow defenders well and did play a bit dirty to get the yellow. He surely wouldn’t mind that after such a perfect result.
LWB: Saed Kolasinac – 6/10
Didn’t really get forward as people expected him to but he held his own on the left.
CM: Aaron Ramsey – 7/10
The freshness he brings to the Arsenal midfield is huge. His runs provided another dimension and he battled hard in the midfield today.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 6/10
Got a yellow early on but he was tidy after that. Released the ball well on a few occasions. He needs to work harder to hit his best.
LF: Alexis Sanchez – 8.5/10
He was a constant nuisance to the Spurs defence and he made them work for every ball. His determination usually is unmatched and he took down the ball gloriously to convert it for Arsenal’s second. Needs to stop going down in a silly fashion but he did put in an important shift today.
RF: Mesut Özil – 9/10
The standing ovation he got from the Emirates narrated the entire story. He was probably the one who needed to give a message and he did so excellently. His ball control, the vision, the decisiveness was unparalleled. A magnificent game and games like these are what Arsenal need from him.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 8/10
Complimented both the creators behind him well and he got the assist for Sanchez’s goal. His movement and selfless play is becoming a significant positive.
Substitutes:-
CM: Francis Coquelin – 5.5/10
The game was already done by the time he came on. Decent and not really noticeable.
FW: Alex Iwobi – N/A
Came on really late to get a rating.
