Not a great day for the Gunners.
Arsenal’s hopes of winning the Emirates Cup for a fourth time were dashed on Sunday as the Gunners lost 1-0 to Ligue 1 giants AS Monaco – a result which saw Valencia lift the trophy.
Radamel Falcao scored the winner, nodding home unopposed on 37 minutes.
Arsene Wenger’s men needed to equalise in order to overtake Valencia. And they should have had a great chance to do just that late in the second half, when substitute Chuba Akpom was brought down by Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic.
The offence clearly took place in the penalty area, but referee Martin Atkinson gave a free-kick, which came to nothing.
Here’s how the Gunners rated:
Goalkeeper: Wojciech Szczesny – 8
The big Pole was pretty faultless and there was not much he could have done about the goal.
He looked sharp, making a couple a fine saves and coming off his line to clear a through pass off the toes of Falcao.
Right-back: Mathieu Debuchy – 6
A steady debut. Debuchy was sound defensively, but unable to get forward as much as he would have liked.
Left-back: Nacho Monreal – 5
Much happier at left-back, having played in the middle yesterday. However, he still looked a tad out of his depth.
Centre-back: Laurent Koscielny – 7
As the senior member of Arsenal’s backline, Koscielny has to take the blame for the fact that Falcao was left unmarked for the game’s only goal. Aside from that blip, the Frenchman was pretty solid.
Centre-back: Calum Chambers – 7
Only played the first half, but was very comfortable again. It seems very likely and not at all worrying that, in the absence of Per Mertesacker, Chambers will start the season as one of Arsenal’s first choice centre-backs.
Midfield: Jack Wilshere – 6
A little bit off the pace. Made a shocking tackle on Nabil Dirar and deservedly got a yellow card. Wilshere wasn’t all bad though and, but for a world class save from Subasic, he could have scored.
Midfield: Mikel Arteta – 5
The Spaniard was pretty ineffective and was subbed at half time. The Gunners improved significantly after he was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Midfield: Aaron Ramsey – 8
The brightest member of Arsenal’s midfield three by a long way.
Attacking midfield left: Santi Cazorla – 5
Not at his best and unable to justify his lack of defensive commitment, which frequently left Monreal exposed down Arsenal’s left side.
Attacking midfield right: Alexis Sanchez – 7
Not a bad 73-minute display. He was excellent off the ball, constantly harassing Monaco’s defenders high up the pitch. However, he seemed a bit too keen to impress in possession and his final ball was underwhelming.
Forward: Olivier Giroud – 5
Positive intentions, but sluggish execution.
Subs:
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7
Ignasi Miquel – 7
Mathieu Flamini – 6
Chuba Akpom – 7
Gedion Zelalem – 6
Hector Bellerin – n/a