The mood was high after Wenger’s 5-0 Emirates finale, and in typical Arsenal fashion, they threw it all away in a 3-1 loss to Leicester that started off with a Mavropanos red card. Arsenal appears to be the only club in all of the Milkyway galaxy without any away points in 2018. This steak will certainly be a blemish on Wenger’s stupendous career. Let’s hope we can sweep this away form under the rug with a new manager. In the meantime, here are the player ratings…
Petr Cech – 8
You wouldn’t typically give a goalkeeper a good rating when his team concedes 3 goals, but Cech actually kept the score at a “respectable” level. Both goals from open play were incredibly close chances too hard to expect to be saved. And of course the penalty… well it’s Cech, did you expect anything else? Could’ve been 5-1 or worse without him.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6.5
He did really well for the goal and challenged Fuchs throughout the match. However, the team never seems to prepare for a counterattacking opponent. He was caught out several times in defence including the play leading up to the penalty, causing Mkhitaryan to get a little too reckless in the box.
Rob Holding – 5.5
As a whole, he was part of an unstructured defence that was caught out all game long. Individually, he made a last-ditch tackle and a few good plays but got rinsed by Mahrez for the third goal. So overall, a very mixed performance.
Konstantinos Mavropanos – 4
Made a youthful mistake by trying to casually pass it out from the back leading to the first goal. As for the shirt tug, it was pretty cynical, and deservedly a red. That being said, he’s only 20 so it’s just a matter of remaining confident because, before this, he barely made any mistakes in his last two appearances. Every defender has games like this in his career.
Sead Kolasinac – 5.5
Hit the post in what I thought was gonna be another Podolski-esque goal. As a wingback, he had a good performance. As a left-back, 5 tackles might sound good, but there’s more to the story than that. With only 10 men playing against a counterattacking team, it was important to keep a solid defensive structure throughout. Kolasinac was way too far upfield on several occasions (a definite weak part of his game).
Granit Xhaka – 6.5
Adequate enough from Xhaka. He was decisive and clean with the ball throughout, setting up the play that led to the goal. His speed (or lack thereof) showed when Leicester went on the break, but that’s nothing new.
Aaron Ramsey – 5.5
Misplaced 11 of his 58 passes and was dispossessed on 5 occasions. His performances really do lean on whether he can produce goals or assists, but he just couldn’t break down the defence today. Positively, he stopped a Leicester attack or two.
Alex Iwobi – 7
His final product will always be a concern, as he customarily sent a decent chance into orbit. But, he did offer Arsenal a lot going forward, completing 3 dribbles and 2 key passes.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6
There were a few occasions where he looked likely to score, but Leicester’s keeper made some good plays. He was a little too careless with the ball, and with that high tackle that caused the penalty.
Danny Welbeck – N/A
Before I even noticed he was on, he was taken off for Mustafi after the red card.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7
He continued his dominant streak with yet another goal, making it 8 goals and 4 assists in 9 appearances for the Gunners. Unlucky not to get more.
Shkodran Mustafi – 6
He got hauled on for Welbeck after the young Greek defender’s red card and tried his best to pull the team together. He didn’t feel like messing around as he made 9 clearances, 2 interceptions, and 2 tackles, but it just wasn’t enough without good team tactics.
Eddie Nketiah – N/A
Only came on for a bit and touched the ball 5 times.
