How Arsenal players fared against West Ham at Upton Park – my ratings

Here are my Arsenal player ratings from this evening’s 3-1 victory over West Ham at Upton Park (feel free to argue or agree with me):

Vito Mannone – Was tested once or twice by West Ham but in whole he had a fairly decent game. Came rushing out to intercept a long ball only to be beaten by Andy Carroll which could of cost Arsenal a goal. 6/10

Carl Jenkinson – Another good performance from the consistent youngster. Bombed forward well and delivered some great crosses from the flank. Never stopped running. 7/10

Thomas Vermaelen – Got stuck in and kept Ricardo Vaz Te at bay. A solid performance from the captain. 7/10

Per Mertesacker – Could have perhaps shifted across to try and block Mohammed Diame’s effort on goal but besides this the German was composed on the ball and dealt with the aerial threat of Carroll. Was unlucky not to bag his first goal for us in the latter stages of the second half. 7/10

Kieran Gibbs – Done brilliantly getting forward and looked confident on the ball. Kept things neat and tidy and always offered the overlap. Limped off with a suspected thigh injury. 7/10

Mikel Arteta – Was unusually quite and failed to dictate the pace of the game as he normally does. Fairly average performance from the Spaniard. 6/10

Aaron Ramsey – The Welshman ran his socks off today. Movement was terrific and passing was on par. Kept thins simple and was tenacious throughout. 7.5/10

Santi Cazorla – Passing and movement was great and always looked to play the killer pass. Faded at times but scored an absolute belter from around 22-yards to put the game to bed. 8/10

Lukas Podolski – Ran the left flank well and always looked to take it to West Ham’s defence. Produced a sublime assist. 7/10

Gervinho – Poor performance from the Ivorian. Failed to create any chance for his team-mates. Looked like a lost sheep. 4/10

Olivier Giroud – This may cause some controversy amongst the fans but I think the French striker was our Man of the Match. Lead the line well, won many aerial battles and held the ball up superbly. Scored our equalizer and assisted our second. 8.5/10

SUBS

Andre Santos – Came on for Gibbo in the 56th minute and did what was required of him. Got forward well but still lacks defensive discipline. 6/10

Theo Walcott – Came off the bench to replace Gervinho. Saw quite a bit of the ball and made some good runs forward. Put Arsenal ahead with a cool finish and also got an assist. Should be given a chance by Arsene Wenger against Norwich in two weeks time. 7/10

Laurent Koscielny – Only got five minutes after replacing Podolski so was unable to stamp his authority on the game. 5/10

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