Arsenal faced off against Chelsea in the UEFA Europa League final yesterday night hoping to book a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League by winning the cup. The Gunners settled into the game well, but neither side managed to open the goal-scoring in the first half.
Maurizio Sarri’s men began the second half on the front foot and made an early breakthrough when Olivier Giroud scored with a well-directed header. Pedro doubled Chelsea’s lead at the hour mark when he found the back of the net via his clever finish.
Eden Hazard got his name on the scoresheet as well when he converted from the spot just five minutes later. Alex Iwobi came on to score a fantastic goal to give Arsenal some hope in the match. However, Hazard scored again in the 72nd minute to ensure a comfortable 4-1 win for the West London outfit.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the match against the Pensioners.
GK: Petr Cech – 5/10
The veteran keeper ended up conceding four goals on the night on his last game for the North London club. It was a nightmare end to his Arsenal career.
CB: Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 4/10
The Greek defender had a solid first half. However, he failed to deal with Olivier Giroud’s threat in the second.
CB: Laurent Koscielny – 4.5/10
The French centre-back looked like a shadow for his former self tonight. He struggled to deal with the quick Chelsea counter-attacks which ended up costing Arsenal big time in the second half.
CB: Nacho Monreal – 4/10
The Spaniard did not look comfortable operating as part of a back three, and it showed on the pitch. He found it difficult coping the late runs from Pedro and N’Golo Kante from midfield.
RM: Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 4/10
The youngster was taken to the cleaners by Hazard tonight. Even Emerson Palmieri got the better of him time and time again which will disappoint him.
CM: Lucas Torreira – 5/10
The Uruguayan midfield ace worked his socks off in the first half. However, he went missing in the second half when Chelsea scored three goals when he was on the pitch. Emery decided to replace him in the 67th minute for the super substitute, Alex Iwobi.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 5/10
The Swiss international could have scored with his brilliant strike that grazed the bar in the first half. However, he failed to dictate play in the second half which gave Chelsea the impetus to go on and snatch the match away from Arsenal.
LM: Sead Kolasinac – 5/10
He was a decent outlet for the Gunners in the first half but failed to perform his defensive duties at the back.
CAM: Mesut Özil – 3/10
The German playmaker was relatively quiet going forward during the match. His defensive work-rate in the opposition half was appalling as well which let his teammates down on the night.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 4/10
The French centre-forward got a plethora of goal-scoring chances, but he failed to convert any of them.
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 3.5/10
The Gabonese striker was not able to come alive in the final third and had a frustrating night out at Baku, Azerbaijan.
Substitutes:
Alex Iwobi – 7.5/10
He scored a screamer only minutes after coming on as a substitute.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 5/10
The French starlet struggled to make his presence felt during his time on the pitch.
CM: Joe Willock – 6/10
The Arsenal talent came on for the final quarter of the match but didn’t do enough to influence the game.
