Arsenal entertained Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium earlier this evening hoping to keep their excellent recent unbeaten run alive. The Gunners got a foothold in the game early on, but the Reds looked threatening on the counter. Both teams squandered some great opportunities to score while Sadio Mane had his goal incorrectly ruled out for off-side which meant that the sides went in level at half-time.
Liverpool began the second half with a more attacking approach and took the lead in the 61st minute courtesy of James Milner’s well-placed finish. However, the Gunners responded in the dying embers of the contest through Alexandre Lacazette’s composed strike to rescue a point from the encounter. The match finished with a final score of 1-1 with both teams living to fight another day.
Let’s shed some light on how each Arsenal player performed during the match against the Reds.
GK: Bernd Leno – 6/10
He pulled off some outstanding saves to deny the Reds from scoring more than one goal on the night. However, he misjudged the flight of the ball in the first half which almost led to a goal, but Virgil Van Dijk’s tame header hit the post as the ball fizzled out. However, was at fault for Liverpool’s opening goal on the night.
RB: Hector Bellerin – 6/10
The Spaniard provided an excellent outlet down the right flank but was caught out defensively quite a few times during the game.
CB: Shkodran Mustafi – 6/10
The German centre-back was nervy in possession at times but won some good headers and distributed the ball well in the second half.
CB: Rob Holding – 7.5/10
The youngster made some excellent last-ditch interceptions and commanded his box well to earn a point for the home team.
LB: Sead Kolasinac – 7/10
The Arsenal left-back caused a lot of problems for Trent Alexander-Arnold down the left wing as he always looked to overlap the Liverpool starlet and delivered some dangerous balls into the box.
CM: Lucas Torreira – 6/10
The Uruguayan worked hard for his team, but his passes lacked the quality required to open up the Reds defence.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 6/10
The Swiss international did the dirty midfield work relatively well but looked like a player who always had a mistake in him.
RM: Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6/10
He gave away the ball quite a few times, but some of his link-up play was exceptional in the attacking third.
CAM: Mesut Özil – 6.5/10
The German playmaker looked classy while linking up the Gunners midfield with their attack. He played some delicate balls but failed to make a decisive contribution during the game.
LM: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7/10
The Gabon international was a real threat for the Reds defenders in the first half. However, his impact faded as the game went on.
ST: Alexandre Lacazette – 8/10
The French forward kept his composure to score the all-important equaliser which salvaged a point for the North London outfit.
Substitutes:
LM: Alex Iwobi – 7/10
His pace was causing a lot of headaches for the Liverpool defence.
CAM: Aaron Ramsey – 5/10
He was a passenger after coming off the bench and hardly got on the ball to affect the game.
LM: Danny Welbeck – N/A
He hardly had any time to make an impact on the pitch.
