Arsenal entertained Vorskla Poltava at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night hoping to start their UEFA Europa League campaign with a win. The Gunners began the match on the offensive and managed to take a 1-0 lead into the half-time break courtesy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal in the 32nd minute.
The North London outfit were even more dominant in the second half and managed to score three more goals via strikes from Danny Welbeck, Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil. The away side scored two consolation goals when Vladimir Chesnakov found the back of the net in the 76th minute while Vyacheslav Sharpar scored in injury time to make the scoreline more respectable. The match ended with the Gunners running out as 4-2 winners on the night.
Let’s take a look at how each Arsenal player fared during the clash against Vorskla.
GK: Bernd Leno – 6/10
The Gunners keeper was hardly called into action but distributed the ball well during the game. He was left helpless and could not do much about either of the two Vorskla Poltava goals.
RB: Stephan Lichtsteiner – 7/10
He defended well and was a threat going forward. The Swiss international managed to get a handy assist in the lead up to Arsenal’s fourth goal.
CB: Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 7/10
The Greek centre-half put on another commanding performance at the heart of the Gunners defence. He was also superb with his distribution as evidenced by the brilliant pass in the lead up to Ozil’s goal.
CB: Rob Holding – 6/10
The youngster slotted in well at centre-back and looked calm and reliable on the ball.
LB: Nacho Monreal – 6.5/10
The Spaniard put on a solid display and worked hard down the left flank.
CM: Lucas Torreira – 8/10
The Uruguayan pulled strings from midfield and was outstanding on the ball. He displayed his excellent passing range and put on a great advert to start in Emery’s first-team on a weekly basis.
CM: Mohamed Elneny – 7.5/10
He was a substantial presence at the middle of the pitch and helped Torreira to dictate play from midfield.
RM: Danny Welbeck – 7.5/10
He was quite active down the right flank and operated more as a centre-forward in the second half. Welbeck took his chance quite well with a glancing header just after half-time.
CAM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 7/10
The Armenian showed some glimpses of his brilliance but had a few sloppy moments as well.
LM: Alex Iwobi – 9/10
He was quite direct with his runs and did most of the damage running behind the Vorskla Poltava defence. He was a menace to deal with and was the best player on the pitch.
ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 8.5/10
The Gabon forward was fantastic on the night. He scored twice and could have completed his hat-trick but was denied by the post.
Substitutes:
CAM: Mesut Ozil – 7/10
The German looked calm in possession and scored Arsenal’s fourth goal with relative ease.
CM: Matteo Guendouzi – 6/10
The youngster came off the bench to provide some fresh legs in midfield.
CM: Emile Smith Rowe – 6/10
He made his senior debut for the Gunners tonight and worked hard for his team while on the pitch.
