Arsenal continued their winning run under Unai Emery after a stuttering start to the season as they saw off an inspired Everton side at the Emirates. The game was evenly matched until Arsenal scored two goals in quick succession in the second half which would have left Marco Silva miffed as he saw his side squander some good goal scoring opportunities.
Alexandre Lacazette scored with a brilliant finish, and one has to say that the goal came against the run of play as Everton were dominating at that moment. The second goal came on a counter as both the teams played an end to end game. Aubameyang finished from close range though it was clearly offside and Everton were hard done by the linesman.
Nevertheless, the Spanish manager would take that victory and most importantly the Gunners managed a clean sheet. Here is how Arsenal players fared in their 2-0 win.
Petr Cech 8
The veteran custodian was outstanding and is slowly showing why Emery has persisted with him ahead of Bernd Leno. Made some crucial saves when the score was 0-0 which kept Arsenal in the game.
Hector Bellerin 6
Richarlison troubled him throughout the game and he was lucky that he was bailed out by his team-mates on quite a few occasions. Did well while going forward though.
Shkodran Mustafi 5.5
The German is considered to be one of the weak links in Arsenal’s backline, and he didn’t do too much to change that opinion. Looked nervy in possession and was guilty of giving the ball away cheaply.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 6
The pace of the Everton forwards troubled him as long as he was on the pitch. Suffered an injury and was substituted before halftime.
Nacho Monreal 7
Was excellent while going forward and should have opened the scoring in the first half. Defensively he was just about okay as Walcott got the better of him on few occasions.
Lucas Torreira 7
Played with determination and started off the attack through which Arsenal broke the deadlock. However, he was lucky to not receive a second yellow card in the first half which could have turned the tide towards the visiting team.
Granit Xhaka 6
A typical Xhaka performance as he was found out defensively but did distribute the ball well.
Aaron Ramsey 6
Had an average game but went on to add two assists to his name. The second one should have been disallowed due to offside.
Mesut Ozil 6
The German didn’t work off the ball enough. Played a big part in the build-up for the second goal and made some excellent runs in the box. But he would be looking over his shoulders as he continues to be a liability off the ball.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang 7
Did the hard yards on the left flank but Emery would want him to get more into the central areas. Scored the second goal which killed the game for the Merseyside club.
Alexandre Lacazette 7
Was struggling to get involved in the game before he slotted in an inch-perfect shot to open the scoring. That’s what top strikers are there for as when they get a little bit of opening; they take their chance.
Substitutes
Rob Holding 7
Was brought into action after an injury to Sokratis. Did a fine job and brought a sense of calmness at the back.
Alex Iwobi 6
Worked extremely hard and pressed like a maniac. The Gunners faithful loved what they saw as they gave him a good ovation for closing down the opponent.
Danny Welbeck N/A
Didn’t affect the game much.
