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Player Ratings: Arsenal 1-0 West Bromwich Albion

In a game which looked for 85 minutes like ‘one of those games at The Emirates’ where the opposition goalkeeper is unstoppable, where Tony Pulis’ men started time wasting around the 20-minute mark, the light came from Arsenal’s deadly partnership last season: Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud. Giroud scored at the end of a beautiful cross from the German playmaker to secure all three points for the Gunners and the first clean sheet since the 0-0 with Middlesbrough in October, so here are our ratings:

 

Petr Cech: 5/10

Had pretty much nothing to do throughout the game, struggled to clear the ball on corners and could have done better with his distribution. 

Hector Bellerin: 6/10

Not the best game for the Spaniard, not tested defensively but he didn’t provide any width going forward, cutting back inside all game long, his partnership with Walcott was missed. With Iwobi ahead of him, Bellerin has a lot more solo defending to do, which does restrict his effectiveness going forward. A naverage game for the Spaniard. 

Gabriel: 6/10

Had his usual positional problems but like the rest of the back five, he wasn’t tested. Arsenal could do with Mustafi at the back next to Koscielny. The German is much better with the ball at his feet and thus, allows Arsenal far more technical ability in starting their attacks from the back than Gabriel. 

Laurent Koscielny: 7/10

Very solid game from the Frenchman, kept his calm in the very few times West Brom attacked and probably still has Salomon Rondon in his pocket. He never really looked troubled but whenever there was any slight danger, he dealt with easily – a huge reason for Arsenal’s first clean sheet since October. 

Kieran Gibbs: 6.5/10

Good game from the Englishman, even if, like Bellerin, he didn’t provide the width that was needed to create space in the middle, forced off in the 70th minute after a big contact with Claudio Yacob. With Monreal out of form, Gibbs provides solidity in defence and pace going forward. 

Granit Xhaka: 8/10

He had the time and space to flourish, every Arsenal attack went through him at some point. He controlled the game with very good passes between the lines, a good performance after two very difficult games.

Francis Coquelin: 5/10

He was almost useless in a game where his ball-winning qualities weren’t needed, added nothing to our game apart from a few good passes. Wenger should’ve played someone with more ability to pass forward. 

Alex Iwobi: 5.5/10

Always calm on the ball but lost it as soon as someone got close to him, like if he was afraid of any contact. Moreover, Iwobi doesn’t offer the defensive cover for that Walcott does, that’s a big loss. Iwobi should have stayed wide a bit more instead of cutting back inside every single time, still a good performance from the Nigerian, albeit recently he has looked a bit lost during the game. 

Iwobi should have stayed wide a bit more instead of cutting back inside every single time, still a good performance from the Nigerian, albeit recently he has looked a bit lost during the game. 

Mesut Ozil: 8/10

He had to drop very deep to create anything but still had a very good game. The German created a few chances which, unfortunately, weren’t scored. He finally got his reward when Giroud buried his cross for the winner, the beginning of a return formrom for the German.

Alexis Sanchez: 6.5/10

The Chilean was back on the left and while he created a few chances and hit the post, he was closer to the struggling left winger we saw last year than the in-form striker of this season, keeping the ball too much and running straight into the defense.

Olivier Giroud: 8/10

A first start of the season in the Premier League for our number 12, who looked like he wouldn’t finish the game after getting booked for dissent, he played his target man role quite well, was handicapped by the lack of crosses, but still managed to clinch the winner with a very good header to win it in the 86th minute. He should start next game with Sanchez on the left. 

 

 

The substitutes:

Nacho Monreal: 6/10

Had very little to do defensively. 

Aaron Ramsey: 6.5/10

Coming back from injury, the Welshman helped to make Arsenal’s attacks more direct and was denied a goal by a superb save from Foster. 

Lucas Perez: 7.5/10

Great cameo from the Spaniard, always in movement and very good with the ball, he created a glorious chance for Giroud, his link-up looks very promising and will only improve if he plays more, cameos like that should guarantee him more minutes in the coming weeks.

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