Arsenal took on Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium earlier today hoping to get their first away victory of the season. The Gunners began the match with a desire to attack and got a deserved lead in the 11th minute through Shkodran Mustafi’s header. However, the Bluebirds scored just before half-time to go in level at the break.
The second half was more of the same with both teams trying to go on the offensive. The away team regained their lead once again through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s excellent finish. However, Cardiff refused to give up and scored an equaliser just 8 minutes later. The Gunners got ahead once again in the 81st minute when Alexandre Lacazette scored from a tight angle which was enough to give the North London side all three points from the game. The match finished 3-2 in favour of Unai Emery’s team.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the contest against the Bluebirds.
GK: Petr Cech – 5/10
He had a nervy game in between the sticks for the Gunners. The experienced keeper was terrible with his distribution and was lucky not to concede from one of his mistakes.
RB: Hector Bellerin – 6/10
He was a good threat down the right wing in the first half. However, his impact in the game wore off after the half-time break.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 6/10
He scored the opening goal of the game with a good header but had a lot of trouble while defending. Danny Ward caused him a lot of problems all throughout the game.
CB: Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 6/10
A solid performance from the Greek defender! However, he was guilty of squandering possession at times.
LB: Nacho Monreal – 6/10
He was at fault for Cardiff’s first goal, but it was another strong showing from the Spanish full-back.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 6.5/10
The youngster was calm on the ball and put on a tireless performance at the centre of the field.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 5/10
His delivery from the corner was met by Mustafi who scored the opener with his head. However, the Swiss international’s horrible pass gifted the Bluebirds an equaliser just before half-time.
RM: Mesut Özil – 6.5/10
The German failed to make a meaningful impact in the first half. However, he played a more central role after the break and put on a far better performance going forward.
CAM: Aaron Ramsey – 7/10
His work-rate was exemplary all throughout the contest. However, he lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
LM: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7/10
The Arsenal forward took his chance quite well in the second half and played his part in the Gunners win.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 8.5/10
The Frenchman scored the winning goal of the game with a powerful finish from a tight angle. He was the best player on the pitch by a good distance!
Substitutes:
CM: Lucas Torreira – 7/10
The South American was excellent after coming off the bench and set up the winner when his pass opened up the goal for Lacazette who finished from a tight angle.
ST: Danny Welbeck – 5/10
He hardly had any impact in the game.
CAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 5/10
He came off the bench to run the clock down for the away side.
