Arsenal and Hull will be forced into an FA Cup replay after their goalless draw, with the Tigers putting in a superb defensive performance – and an excellent goalkeeping display – to keep Arsenal at bay. Our friends at All Arsenal have provided us with some player ratings for the game:
————————————————————————————————————————
A disappointing result and an unwanted replay, with our lack of clinical finishing preventing us from putting the ball in the back of the net. The boys possibly had one eye on Barcelona in midweek, and really needed a bit more concentration on the Hull game.
Here’s how we rate the players from our goalless draw in the FA Cup:
GK) David Ospina – 6.5
The Colombian didn’t have a huge amount to do, but when called upon he didn’t look totally assured. He got lucky early on when Laurent Koscielny cleared a ball he was nowhere near.
RB) Calum Chambers – 7.0
Excellent going forward initially and solid defensively, but in the second half his crossing was totally wayward.
LB) Kieran Gibbs – 6.5
Gibbs really hasn’t progressed in the last few years, which is why he finds himself behind Nacho Monreal. His final ball isn’t good enough, and he made far too many mistakes.
CB) Per Mertesacker – 7.0
Mertesacker wasn’t called into action all that much, with Hull conceding most of the possession to us. When he was required he was there, although it was Koscielny doing most of the work.
CB) Laurent Koscielny – 7.0
As we were constantly pushed up and dominating possession it was quite open at the back, and Koscielny was constantly racing up to intercept passes. He was arguably lucky to stay on the pitch after a reckless challenge on a yellow card, but overall he was superb.
SEE MORE:
Arsenal transfer news
DM) Mathieu Flamini – 6.5
Got forward regularly as usual, ignoring the fact that he’s a defensive midfielder. With close to 70% possession this can be excused somewhat, but if we’re going to play an adventurous midfielder surely there are better options than Flamini?
CM) Mohamed Elneny – 6.5
The Egyptian looked good at the start, and was unlucky to see his long-shot blocked by the arm of Alex Bruce. He was a little more sloppy in the second half, and we arguably needed a more attack-minded midfielder partnering the defensive midfielder.
CAM) Alex Iwobi – 7.0
He was one of our brightest attacking players early on, and was showing real attacking intent right from the off. He faded a little in the second half, and was rightfully substituted.
Substitute: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6.5
A bit of an ineffective substitute, spraying passes wide of the mark and missing one fantastic chance after an Olivier Giroud knock-down.
RAM) Joel Campbell – 7.0
Energetic and lively throughout, and put in a fantastic defensive shift. His final ball was lacking a little unfortunately, but he came really close with a phenomenal free kick narrowly kept out by Eldin Jakupovic.
Substitute: Alexis Sanchez – 6.0
Really disappointing when he came on, especially by his standards. His shooting was wayward, his decision making was poor, and his passes were all over the place. He had a few moments of brilliance, but for the most part he was poor.
LAM) Theo Walcott – 7.0
Solid for the most part, but like many others lacked the end product we required. His hold-up play was surprisingly good, but he then didn’t do a huge amount with the ball.
ST) Danny Welbeck – 7.5 (MotM)
Arguably our best player over the course of 90 minutes, despite being brought off early in the second half. He had a couple of great chances to score but couldn’t quite beat Jakupovic. His pace and power caused Hull problems consistently.
Substitute: Olivier Giroud – 7.0
A couple of half chances went agonisingly wide, and he shot straight at Jakupovic after some great skill. He put it on a plate for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a great header, but it wasn’t converted.