It’s safe to say that Arsenal loves a game against West Ham. This 4-1 smashing makes it 4 wins and 2 draws for the Gunners in the last 6 matches against West Ham, and they’ve outscored them 16-6 in that run. But, they hardly made it look easy for the first 80 minutes. It was looking like it would finish 1-1, until a late blitz saw the Gunners put 3 more past the Hammers. Ramsey and Lacazette lead the way with 3 goals and an assist between the both of them in just the last 8 minutes plus stoppage time. Here are the ratings…
David Ospina – 7
Ospina couldn’t do much about the goal and made some good saves to secure a win. If he’s playing Thursday, he has to continue with this type of form.
Hector Bellerin – 6
He had a good chance on goal that he should’ve taken better. Otherwise, he did well to get forward and defend throughout.
Shkodran Mustafi – 6
He was challenged by Arnautovic early on with some long balls from West Ham. But, as the team got into a groove later in the game, he provided some great tackles/blocks to keep the West Ham from scoring more than 1.
Laurent Koscielny – 6.5
With 10 ball wins (a team-high), Koscielny looked several years younger. Plus, 94% passing is nothing to turn your nose up at (Am I saying that right? You know what I mean…).
Nacho Monreal – 7.5
A definite improvement from his previous two performances. His volley is certainly in the top 5 of Arsenal goals this season. He didn’t slack on defence either.
Mohamed Elneny – 6
He was on his way to another solid performance, but unfortunately, he rolled his ankle at the end of the first half, so he only gets a 6. From what I heard, he’ll be out several weeks.
Granit Xhaka – 8
Another commanding performance in the midfield for Xhaka. 3 key passes, 100 out of 109 passes completed (92%), and some good shots on target. He finally got some good corners in, grabbing an assist from one.
Aaron Ramsey – 9
Ramsey wasn’t able to contribute much for most of the game, despite trying hard. But, in the last 10 minutes, he completed 2 of his 4 dribbles, 2 of his 3 key passes, and assisted and scored a goal.
Alex Iwobi – 5
Another woeful performance from Iwobi this time. There were some positive bits from him, but they never combined into a successful play. With Mkhitaryan out, it seems that he’ll most likely just have to keep playing through this bad run of form.
Danny Welbeck – 6
He came very close a couple of times, with one particularly good curler being denied by Joe Hart. And then being Welbeck, he also spoiled some very good chances. He had 3 key passes but couldn’t get an assist.
Alexandre Lacazette – 9
Since coming back from injury, that’s now 6 goals in 6 games. He took both of his goals very well and looked like he could score 3 to 4. This Aubameyang-Lacazette partnership is turning out great.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6.5
He didn’t do a bad job coming on for Elneny. I just wish he would’ve been more adventurous going forward, because I know he’s capable of it.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7.5
It’s not a coincidence that for the 20 minutes he came on for Iwobi, we scored 3 goals. That’s 5 goals and 3 assists in his last 6 games.
Calum Chambers – N/A
Wasn’t on long enough to warrant a rating.
