Arsenal made a long journey to Tyneside to take on Newcastle United at St. James’ Park this Saturday, looking to build on their two successive victories in the Premier League. The Gunners made a slow start to the game and failed to hit the target in the first half. However, they came out firing on all cylinders after the break and took the lead courtesy of Granit Xhaka’s outstanding freekick.
The North London side doubled their lead just a few minutes later through Mesut Ozil’s smart finish which was enough to hand all three points to Unai Emery’s team. Newcastle grabbed a late consolation goal when Ciaran Clark came off the bench to score for the home side. However, the match ended with the Gunners running out 2-1 winners on the day.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player performed during the clash against the Magpies.
GK: Petr Cech – 5/10
The Gunners shot-stopper had a mediocre day out at St. James’ Park. His distribution was once again poor, which is a significant cause for concern.
RB: Hector Bellerin – 6/10
The Spaniard coped well defensively but was caught out of position for Newcastle’s late consolation goal.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 5.5/10
The German centre-back made a string of poor mistakes at the back and was lucky to get away with it on the day.
CB: Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 8/10
He was outstanding during the game and was a commanding presence in the Arsenal backline. He looked calm under pressure and even managed to bail out his defensive partner, Mustafi for one of his errors.
LB: Nacho Monreal – 6/10
The Spaniard performed his defensive duties well but failed to make an impact going forward.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 5/10
The youngster was average in the first half and was rightfully subbed at half-time.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 8.5/10
The Swiss international broke the deadlock with a brilliant freekick. He also performed well in midfield and played a crucial part in the lead up to Ozil’s goal.
RM: Mesut Özil – 7.5/10
The German playmaker struggled to get going in the first half but found the back of the net with a well-placed strike which turned out to be the winner.
CAM: Aaron Ramsey – 6/10
He made a few good runs in the opposition half, but his decision making in the final third let him down, time and again.
LM: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 6/10
The Gabon striker was unlucky not to score during the game. He was guilty of squandering a great chance after the half-time break.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 6/10
The Frenchman looked busy and linked up well with his teammates. However, he did not get many opportunities to score during the contest.
Substitutes:
CM: Lucas Torreira – 8/10
Another impressive showing by the Uruguayan talent! Emery should start him more often as the Gunners are clearly better with Torreira’s energy and dynamism in midfield.
CAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6/10
He could have scored after coming off the bench.
ST: Danny Welbeck – 5/10
Hardly made any difference after coming on for the final quarter of the encounter.
