Arsenal and Stoke City played out a fairly drab draw at the Britannia Stadium, with the game only really saved by the performances of the two goalkeepers. Our friends at All Arsenal have provided us with some player ratings for the game, check them out below and see if you agree.
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We missed our chance to extend our lead atop the Premier League table, and hang onto top spot by goal difference after our goalless draw against Stoke City.
We were saved by Petr Cech a number of times, although Jack Butland did the same for his team down the other end.
Here’s how we rate the players from our 0-0 draw with Stoke:
GK) Petr Cech – 8.0
The man between the sticks made a couple of absolutely phenomenal stops, including one excellent double save that kept us in the game.
RB) Hector Bellerin – 7.0
The Spaniard got forward well, overlapping whenever possible. He was watched at all times though, and never really got the chance to put a decent cross in.
LB) Nacho Monreal – 7.5
Not quite as offensively minded as Bellerin, but did an excellent job defensively throughout.
CB) Per Mertesacker – 7.5
A couple of scary moments, but overall a solid performance to keep out a Stoke side that looked fairly average going forward.
CB) Laurent Koscielny – 7.5
Much like Mertesacker, he didn’t put a foot wrong, but didn’t shine particularly brightly either.
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DM) Mathieu Flamini – 7.0
Would have been good to have someone a little more creative capable of starting attacks from deep, as more often than not he just dropped the ball off to a teammate and let them do the work. He put in a few decent challenges, but it will be great to see what Mohamed Elneny can do soon.
CM) Aaron Ramsey – 7.0
The Welshman wasn’t quite as influential as he can be, but was still looking to get on the ball wherever possible. We didn’t see as many runs beyond the defence as we normally do from Ramsey.
CAM) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6.0
Another fairly poor performance from the Ox, and it’s starting to get worrying. He was consistently looking to carry the ball forward, but it was the simple passes that were letting him down, giving away possession when he really didn’t need to.
RAM) Joel Campbell – 7.0
One of our more dangerous looking players, with his aggression certainly helping at times. He wasn’t quite as sharp as he has been recently, but still a decent performance.
LAM) Theo Walcott – 6.5
Unlucky not to get a few free-kicks, but with the lenient refereeing, the constant manhandling and fouling from Stoke, and the deep line they were playing, he just couldn’t impact the game.
ST) Olivier Giroud – 6.5
He didn’t get a huge amount of service, and was rather harshly treated by the referee at times – Stoke able to push him around with impunity. He was denied by Jack Butland in the first half, who made a great save to keep him out.