Arsenal faced disappointment in their first match of the current Premier League season at the hands of Manchester City, and they were looking to make amends for it yesterday against Chelsea. The Blues, on the other hand, were on the lookout for their second successive win of the season.
The Gunners lost the impetus early in the match against the Blues as an inspired Chelsea attack put the ball in the back of their net twice within the opening 20 minutes. However, Unai Emery’s men showed their resilience as attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan inspired his teammates by scoring a goal himself and then turning provider for Alex Iwobi in the 37th and 41st minute to bring the match back in balance.
However, it was not their night as a late strike from another Spaniard Marcos Alonso saw the Gunners losing their second big encounter on a trot. Their effort, though, looked much more commendable than it was against Manchester City and their fans could hope for a rejuvenated run from the North London club in the next matches.
This is how the Arsenal players are rated from their hard-fought loss against Chelsea.
Petr Cech: 7
Looked impressive on occasions as he saved two efforts from Ross Barkley brilliantly but an overall disappointing night.
Hector Bellerin: 6
Needs to do a lot of work on his defending. Lunged forward quite a few times in the first half.
Shkodran Mustafi: 5
The German looked completely out of sorts in front of the Chelsea attackers and was tied in a knot by Morata before the Spaniard slotted the ball past him to score Chelsea’s second goal.
Nacho Monreal: 7
Did not have much to do in the goals scored. Looked sharp on his return to the team.
Granit Xhaka: 4
Feeble display by the Swiss international as he failed to keep the ball in the midfield and looked utterly in a fix against the likes of Jorginho, Barkley and Kante. Was rightly substituted off at halftime.
Matteo Guendouzi: 7
Looked very promising in what was only his second game of the season. The French youngster showed a lot of character and grit to see off his opponents.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 7
Had a mixed outing. Looked good in the first half as he scored one and provided another but should have stepped up in the second half as well.
Mesut Ozil: 5
Was a poor performance overall from the former German international as he lacked the composure to initiate attacks and take his team back into the game.
Alex Iwobi: 7
Looked good from the word go as the Nigerian justified his place in the starting eleven with a well-taken goal.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang: 4.5
Was disappointing as he squandered quite a few chances to get his team back in the game.
Substitutes
Lucas Torreira: 6.5
Came on as a substitute for Granit Xhaka and steadied the ship well for the Gunners.
Aaron Ramsey: 5
Failed to make an impact on the game after coming on as a substitute in the 68th minute.
Alexandre Lacazette: N/A
Played too little to warrant a rating
