Arsenal came from behind at home to get a 3-1 win over Sunderland this past Saturday afternoon, arguably making harder work than they should have done against the relegation candidates at the Emirates. Our friends at All Arsenal have provided us with some player ratings from the game, do you agree with them?
——————————————————————————————————–
We weathered an early storm to get the win against Sunderland this Saturday, keeping our dreams of a third consecutive FA Cup trophy alive.
A defensive nightmare gave the Black Cats the lead early on, but impressive performances from a number of players ensured we eventually got the result we deserved.
Here’s how we rate the players following our 3-1 win over Sunderland:
GK) Petr Cech – 7.0
May be disappointed that he was beaten at his near post, but made a handful of decent saves to make up for it.
RB) Hector Bellerin – 8.0 (MotM)
Struggled defensively at times in the first half, with Patrick van Aanholt looking to get forward whenever possible. In the second half he made the most of tired legs though, constantly romping down the right hand side and providing two superb assists.
LB) Kieran Gibbs – 6.0
A really bad mistake to give the first goal away, getting in a horrible mess with Laurent Koscielny. He wasn’t bad for the rest of the game, but if we were going to concede it looked like the Englishman was going to be responsible.
CB) Laurent Koscielny – 6.5
Has to share the blame for the goal we conceded, and in all honesty didn’t look totally secure throughout the game.
CB) Gabriel Paulista 7.0
His partnership with Koscielny didn’t always look infallible, and Sunderland certainly caused some problems. A lot of aerial battles were lost, and a better team might have punished us.
SEE MORE:
Arsenal transfer news
DM) Calum Chambers – 6.5
A solid if not spectacular performance, he at least showed he can step up and do a job if required.
Substitute: Mikel Arteta – 6.5
Brought on at the right time, when Sunderland looked a little tired and he wasn’t required to chase players all over the pitch.
CM) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7.0
As bright as the Ox looked, it’s still disappointing not to see any end product from him. He looks so impressive beating his man with pace and trickery, but he needs to start producing something tangible.
CAM) Alex Iwobi – 7.5
Just over an hour on the pitch, and an excellent contribution from the youngster. He played a large part in our first goal, and was constantly looking to get on the ball.
Substitute: Aaron Ramsey – 8.0
The Welshman gave us a much needed kick to really get us going, and scored our second goal after great work from Bellerin.
RAM) Joel Campbell – 8.0
Campbell has actually shown that he’s hugely important in the absence of Alexis Sanchez, as we need someone on the wings that brings the same level of energy and work-rate. He took his goal superbly, and was constantly getting into dangerous positions to get or set up a second.
Substitute: Jeff Reine-Adelaide – N/A
Came on for his first senior appearance and looked impressive.
LAM) Theo Walcott – 7.0
The speedster made some great runs and took up some great positions, but his finishing wasn’t quite there today. He spurned a couple of great chances to score, although set up Campbell well for the first goal.
ST) Olivier Giroud – 7.5
More good work from Bellerin put a gaping goal on the plate for Giroud, but the run the Frenchman made to get into that position was superb. Decent hold up play for the most part, although could have asserted himself a little more at times.