It was a night of disappointment for Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium as they went down to Manchester United 1-3 in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Red Devils kept their juggernaut rolling as Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard scored one goal apiece in the first half. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled one back for the Gunners, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s flamboyant side once again hit them on the counter-attack via Anthony Martial to end all hopes for the 13 times FA Cup champions.
Here is how the Arsenal players were rated from their disappointing defeat against Manchester United.
Petr Cech: 5
Not a night to remember for the Arsenal goalkeeper. Could have done better to save Lingard’s strike.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 6
Ran up the pitch with a lot of flair but was caught on the counter allowing the Manchester United attackers to get the better of him.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos: N/A
Picked up an unfortunate injury in the first half. Tried to continue but had to be withdrawn off the pitch.
Laurent Koscielny: 6
Could do nothing to stop Lingard and Alexis Sanchez from scoring twice in the first half. Was substituted after picking up a horrible knock on his head in a tussle with Romelu Lukaku.
Sead Kolasinac: 5
Nothing significant from the left back as his backtracking let his side down on a number of occasions, allowing Lukaku to have free runs into the danger area and dish out a couple of assists.
Lucas Torreira: 6
Tried his level best to keep possession of the ball in the middle of the pitch but could not get the better of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba.
Granit Xhaka: 5
Had to play in the role of the centre back in the second half after Koscielny’s departure and he could not contain the Manchester United attackers from taking free shots on goal.
Alex Iwobi: 6
His bag of tricks could not deceive the opposition defenders and he was taken off in the second half.
Aaron Ramsey: 7
A composed performance from the Welshman as he kept getting the ball into the danger area and assisted Aubameyang for Arsenal’s only goal of the match.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 7
Looked sharp on a number of occasions but did not get much help from his teammates. Tried to inspire a fightback with a goal in the first half but it proved futile for the Gunners.
Alexandre Lacazette: 6
Could not do much to get the goals for his side and inspire a comeback.
Substitutes
Shkodran Mustafi: 4
Came on early for Sokratis but was not able to contain the opposition attackers.
Mesut Ozil: 5
Looked very ordinary and uninspiring in his limited time on the pitch.
Matteo Guendouzi: 6
His young legs provided a little enthusiasm to the Gunners in the midfield but not enough to keep them in the match.
