Arsenal took on Norwich City at Carrow Road earlier today hoping to pick up all three points on the road under their new interim manager Freddie Ljungberg. The Gunners dominated possession in the first half but conceded in the 21st minute when Teemu Pukki scored for the home side. However, the Gunners equalised via Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s penalty just eight minutes later. The Canaries responded positively and got themselves ahead again just before the half-time break when Todd Cantwell found the back of the net with an excellent finish.
Freddie Ljungberg’s men kept seeing more of the ball in the second half and managed to level the scoreline in the 57th minute courtesy of Aubameyang’s finish from close range. Both sides fought tooth and nail to score the winner. However, their efforts were in vain as the match finished with 2-2 with both teams sharing the spoils.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player fared during the encounter against the Canaries.
GK: Bernd Leno – 7/10
The German keeper pulled off a couple of world-class saves to deny the Canaries from securing all three points. However, he couldn’t do much about either of Norwich’s two goals during the game.
RB: Calum Chambers – 4/10
He tried to get too involved in the opposition half which left the space behind him exposed for Norwich to exploit.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 4/10
The German defender was too slow and was at fault in the lead-up to both of Norwich’s goals today. He needs to be dropped again.
CB: David Luiz – 5/10
The Brazilian centre-back had a few positive moments, but he just couldn’t figure out a way to neutralise Pukki’s threat on the counter.
LB: Sead Kolasinac – 6.5/10
He was a commanding presence down the left flank and put in a decent shift for the Gunners. Kolasinac also performed his defensive duties well and made life difficult for the opposition.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 5/10
The Swiss international was often too slow to react to the danger and failed to provide adequate cover for the Arsenal backline.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 5/10
He tried to make some driving runs with the ball but couldn’t come up with anything meaningful in the final third. The youngster was also guilty of throwing away possession a couple of time during the match.
RM: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 8/10
The Gabonese striker came to use his side’s rescue in both halves as he scored a brace to help Ljungberg secure a point from his first game in charge of the Gunners.
CAM: Joe Willock – 6/10
He made an impressive start to the clash, but his performance levels faded in the second half as he found it challenging to cope with the intensity of Daniel Farke’s players.
LM: Mesut Özil – 7/10
The German playmaker looked a class act on the ball and created a few decent goal-scoring opportunities in the final third.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 5/10
The French striker tried to do too much but ended up doing very little. He did not have his finishing boots on at Carrow Road today.
Substitutes:
CM: Lucas Torreira – 6/10
The Uruguayan midfield ace made an important stop to deny Norwich from netting the winner.
LM: Bukayo Saka – 5/10
He struggled to get into the game after coming off the bench.
ST: Gabriel Martinelli – N/A
The Arsenal starlet did not have enough time to make an impact.
