Arsenal welcomed Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium earlier this afternoon as they looked to pick up their first victory of this campaign. Both sides fought tooth and nail in the first 45 minutes but struggled to break each other down as they went into the half-time interval all level on the scoreline.
The North London club finally managed to break the deadlock in the 66th minute when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored after a mad scramble in front of the Norwich goal. The Gabon international tapped the ball in from point-blank range which gave Mikel Arteta’s men a much-needed 1-0 win at home.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the contest against the Canaries.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 7/10
The Gunners goalie made one solid save during the game and earned a hard-fought clean sheet in front of the home crowd.
RB: Takehiro Tomiyasu – 7/10
It was a positive display from the Japanese full-back in the first half. He performed his defensive duties well and was lively in the Norwich half.
CB: Ben White – 7/10
White was not shy of putting his foot through the ball to clear the danger and orchestrated a few decent opportunities for his teammates to find the back of the net.
CB: Gabriel – 7/10
The Brazilian centre-back was strong in the air and did enough work defensively to restrict the Canaries from scoring today.
LB: Kieran Tierney – 7/10
He kept possession moving quite well from the left wing and created a couple of key chances in the opponent’s half.
CM: Albert Sambi Lokonga – 7.5/10
Lokonga anchored the midfield with conviction but could last only 61 minutes.
CM: Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 7/10
He worked hard and produced a matured display at the centre of the park. Maitland-Niles was substituted in the 81st minute.
RM: Nicolas Pepe – 8.5/10
Pepe caused all kinds of problems for the Norwich defenders and played a big role in the lead-up to Aubameyang’s goal. He ended the game with a well-deserved assist to his name.
CAM: Martin Odegaard – 6.5/10
The Norway international created a couple of good chances for others around him but never got a sniff at goal himself.
LM: Bukayo Saka – 7.5/10
Saka stretched the Norwich defence quite well and had plenty of shots at goal. However, there was no goal for him today.
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7.5/10
Aubameyang was there in the right place at the right time to score from point-blank range which proved to be the only goal of the contest.
Substitutes:
CM: Thomas Partey – 6/10
He added some steel to the Arsenal midfield.
CM: Emile Smith Rowe – 6/10
Smith Rowe brought some energy onto the field.
RB: Cedric Soares – N/A
He did not get enough minutes to influence the game.
