Arsenal clashed heads with BATE Borisov at the Borisov Arena earlier tonight looking to secure a positive result in the UEFA Europa League. The Gunners dominated possession early on but failed to test Denis Shcherbitski enough to merit a goal. It was the home team who took a shock lead just before half-time via Stanislav Dragun’s glancing header.
The North London outfit tried to respond in the second half but lacked sharpness in the attacking end of the pitch. Alexandre Lacazette was sent off in the 85th minute for a nasty arm/elbow which summed a frustrating night out for Unai Emery’s men. The match finished 1-0 in favour of the Belarusian giants with everything to play for in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the match against BATE Borisov.
GK: Petr Cech – 5/10
The veteran keeper looked a bit nervy in goal but did pull off a couple of good saves during the match. However, he probably should have done a little bit better for the BATE Borisov goal.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 5/10
The German was hardly troubled by the BATE attackers, yet he always looked like he had a mistake in him.
CB: Laurent Koscielny – 6/10
He put in a commanding shift at the back and retained possession well for his team.
CB: Nacho Monreal – 5/10
The Spaniard had a tough outing playing as a makeshift centre-back. The BATE forwards targetted his side and got the better of him on quite a few occasions during the match.
RM: Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6/10
The youngster was full of desire and commitment, but he lacked the end product in the final third.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 6.5/10
The former Ligue 2 prospect worked his socks off at the centre of the park and showed a lot of maturity with his distribution from midfield. However, he failed to be an attacking threat in the opposition half.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 4/10
The Swiss international looked a bit off the pace and got cautioned in the first half. He was not able to make a positive impact on the pitch for the Gunners.
LM: Sead Kolasinac – 4/10
He was at fault for the only goal of the game. Kolasinac found it difficult tracking back in his own half and was not his usual self going forward. The left wing-back will be hoping for better nights.
RAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 5.5/10
The Armenian started the game well, but his impact on the game faded as the match went on. He missed a great opportunity when both teams were level in the first half.
LAM: Alex Iwobi – 6/10
He was Unai Emery’s biggest weapon going forward, but he lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 3/10
The French forward struggled to get himself involved in the game. He let his teammates down when he was given his marching orders in the 85th minute due to a nasty elbow.
Substitutes:
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 6/10
The Gabon striker made some well-timed runs behind the BATE backline, but none of his teammates managed to pick him out.
CM: Lucas Torreira – 6/10
The Uruguayan international put in a far better display than Xhaka. He needs to start more games under Emery.
CM: Denis Suarez – 5/10
He was not able to influence the game after coming off the bench.
