Arsenal faced off against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge earlier tonight as they looked to pick up maximum points in the derby. The Gunners made a solid start to the game and got themselves ahead in the 16th minute when Emile Smith Rowe found the back of the net. They managed to defend their narrow lead well and went into the half-time break one goal to the good.
Both sides fought tooth and nail in the second half but cancelled each other out as Mikel Arteta’s men secured a 1-0 victory in the London derby.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the match against the Blues.
GK: Bernd Leno – 7.5/10
The German keeper made several solid saves during the game to keep his clean sheet intact. However, he should have passed the ball more carefully out from the back.
CB: Rob Holding – 8/10
Holding was a rock at the back as he cleared the danger quite well when called into action. He even got stuck in with a few tackles and was tidy when distributing the ball.
CB: Pablo Mari – 6.5/10
He did what was asked of him on the defensive end of the field despite making a nervy start to the game.
CB: Gabriel – 7/10
The Brazilian defensive ace gave away the ball cheaply but got bailed out by Kai Havertz’s poor finish in the first half. However, he recovered well and made plenty of important clearances to get over the line with the clean sheet intact.
RM: Bukayo Saka – 6.5/10
Saka maintained a good shape when defending inside his half but struggled to influence the game in the attacking third.
CM: Mohamed Elneny – 6/10
He made a couple of crucial clearances but struggled to get a stranglehold in the game.
CM: Thomas Partey – 7.5/10
Partey showed great hunger to challenge for the ball and managed to earn it back a few times for his side. He managed to disrupt Chelsea’s rhythm in the game at the centre of the park.
LM: Kieran Tierney – 7/10
The Scottish full-back cleared his lines when needed and didn’t do much wrong when asked to defend at the back. He even made one good opportunity in the final third.
LAM: Emile Smith Rowe – 7/10
Smith Rowe tracked back to defend when required and scored the only goal of the game in the 16th minute.
RAM: Martin Odegaard – 6.5/10
He had a few lively moments in the game but didn’t do nearly enough to get his name on the scoresheet.
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7/10
The Gabon international struggled to get into the flow of the game but deserves credit for setting up Smith Rowe’s match-winning goal in the first half.
Substitutes:
RM: Hector Bellerin – 6.5/10
Bellerin kept things tidy at the back and made one good chance going forward. However, he picked an injury and got replaced before the end of the game.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 6/10
He added some energy to Arsenal’s attack.
RM: Calum Chambers – N/A
Chambers hardly had any time to influence the game.
