Arsenal clashed heads with Slavia Praha at the Sinobo Stadium earlier tonight as they looked to pick up a positive result on the road and secure qualification into the semifinals of the UEFA Europa League. The Gunners made a bright start to the game and took the lead in the 18th minute via Nicolas Pepe’s tidy finish. Alexandre Lacazette converted a penalty just three minutes later to double Arsenal’s advantage.
Bukayo Saka managed to kill the tie off soon after when he found the back of the net with a low shot as the North London giants cruised to the half-time break with a healthy three-goal lead. Lacazette scored another goal in the 77th minute to put the icing on the cake for Arsenal as the match ended 4-0 in favour of Mikel Arteta’s men.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the game against Slavia Praha.
GK: Bernd Leno – 6.5/10
The German keeper didn’t have a save to make in the game and secured an easy clean sheet away from home.
RB: Callum Chambers – 8/10
Chambers was bright and inventive in the opposition half and picked up a great assist for setting up Saka’s goal. He was solid at the back as well.
CB: Rob Holding – 7.5/10
Holding dealt with mostly everything that came his way on the defensive end of the pitch. He made quite a few important clearances and was tidy with his passing.
CB: Pablo Mari – 7.5/10
The Spaniard won a couple of aerial duels and was not shy of clearing his lines when needed. He will be pleased with the clean sheet tonight.
LB: Granit Xhaka – 7/10
The Swiss international did well to fill in as a makeshift left-back and didn’t commit any mistakes at the back. However, he offered very little going forward.
CM: Thomas Partey – 8/10
Partey dominated the midfield battle by timing his tackles well and making some crucial interceptions for his team. He even blocked a couple of shots to keep the opposition frustrated.
CM: Dani Ceballos – 8/10
The Spanish sensation won the ball back on two occasions and made a few encouraging runs from midfield.
RM: Bukayo Saka – 8.5/10
Saka put the tie to bed when he scored Arsenal’s third goal at the near post in the 24th minute. He was full of energy in the first half but got substituted late in the game.
CAM: Emile Smith Rowe – 8/10
Smith Rowe made a couple of decent chances for others around him and was the one responsible for setting up Pepe’s opening goal in the 18th minute.
LM: Nicolas Pepe – 8/10
Pepe gave his team the lead with a neat finish and also ended the game with an assist to his name.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 8.5/10
The French striker was a constant nuisance for the Slavia Praha defenders and scored a goal in each half to give Arsenal a dominant win in Europe.
Substitutes:
CM: Mohamed Elneny – 6/10
He brought some energy onto the field.
ST: Eddie Nketiah – 6/10
Nketiah hardly got a sniff at goal.
RB: Cedric Soares – 6/10
He did well to see out the win with the clean sheet intact.
ST: Gabriel Martinelli – 6/10
Martinelli picked up a silly yellow card only moments after coming off the bench. Hee deserves credit for making a late run but narrowly missed the target with his shot attempt.
ST: Folarin Balogun – N/A
The youngster hardly had any time to influence the game.
