Arsenal faced off against Everton at Goodison Park earlier today hoping to pick up the three points which would take them above Tottenham Hotspur into the third spot of the Premier League table. The Gunners struggled to settle into the rhythm of the game early on and got punished by Phil Jagielka when he scored in the 10th minute. Both teams fought hard but couldn’t add to the goal-tally in the first half.
The second half was more of the same with the Toffees looking a real threat on the counter while the Gunners failed to get a foothold in the contest. The home side did enough on the pitch to grind out a 1-0 win on the day.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the match against the Toffees.
GK: Bernd Leno – 7/10
Leno couldn’t do much about Jagielka’s goal. To his credit, the German keeper kept his side in the contest by making a few excellent saves to deny Everton from scoring their second goal.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 2/10
Some of his decision-making at the back was questionable, to say the least. Mustafi is not good enough to start for a club like Arsenal, and it was once again on full display today.
CB: Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 5.5/10
The Greek defender committed too many fouls, but he did make some crucial interceptions to keep his team in the game.
CB: Nacho Monreal – 3/10
The Spaniard was played out of position, and it showed in his game as he struggled to cope with Richarlison’s threat in his own half.
RM: Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 3/10
The Gunners youngster found it challenging to perform down the right while up against the duo of Lucas Digne and Bernard.
CM: Mohamed Elneny – 4/10
The Egyptian international got a rare start at the center of the Arsenal midfield but failed to take his chance as he put in a flat display during the game.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 4/10
The French youngster started the contest well but was unable to make a positive impact in midfield.
LM: Sead Kolasinac – 4/10
He might have been Emery’s most potent weapon going forward in recent weeks, but Kolasinac was poor today as he failed to create anything meaningful in the final third.
RAM: Mesut Özil – 4/10
The German playmaker didn’t do enough off the ball and looked like a player out of form while in possession of the ball.
LAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 5.5/10
The Armenian midfielder was Arsenal’s best player in the Everton half. He began the game well but faded after Everton grabbed the opener. Mkhitaryan needs to add more productivity to his game if he wants to secure a regular starting berth under Emery.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 5/10
The French forward was tightly marked by the Everton center-backs and struggled to make any real impact inside the Everton penalty box. However, in his defence, he hardly had any support from his teammates.
Substitutes:
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 3/10
The Arsenal forward was not able to influence the game after coming on for the second half.
CM: Aaron Ramsey – 5/10
The Welshman added a bit of calmness to the Gunners midfield but squandered a glorious chance to equalise after Jordan Pickford gifted him an opportunity.
LM: Alex Iwobi – 5.5/10
He was full of running but had no end product in the final third.
