How Arsenal players fared against Newcastle this evening – my ratings

Here are my Arsenal player ratings from this evenings thrilling 7-3 victory over Newcastle at The Emirates (feel free to argue or agree with me).

Wojciech Szczesny – Despite conceding three goals, which he couldn’t really prevent, the Pole didn’t have much to do in 90 minutes. Made a few good saves in the first-half and looked assured when called upon. 6/10

Bacary Sagna – Another poor performance from the French right-back. Got skinned on a number of occasions by Gabriel Obertan and didn’t look comfortable throughout. Perhaps needs more match fitness? Who knows. 4/10

Laurent Koscielny – Produced a great performance in the absence of Per Mertesacker. Never stopped running and kept position well. 7/10

Thomas Vermaelen – The Belgian centre-back pulled another good performance out of the bag. Commanded the back-line well and kept things nice and tidy at the back. 7/10

Kieran Gibbs – Was good going forward and linked well with Podolski on the left wing, but his defending was well off today. Two of Newcastle’s three goals came from his bad judgement and inability to mark tight. Set up Walcott’s second. 6/10

Mikel Arteta – Distributed the ball well and was tenacious throughout. Another good performance from the Spaniard. 6.5/10

Jack Wilshere – Despite ducking in the wall, which led to Newcastle’s equaliser at 1-1, Wilshere produced yet another spirited performance for The Gunners. Was tenacious and got stuck in, also bagged an assist along the way. 7.5/10

Santi Cazorla – Was fairly quiet in the first-half but picked it up in the second. Distributed the ball well and always looked to create. Got an assist. 6.5/10

Lukas Podolski – Bagged a goal and assist in what was a resolute display from the German international. A definite in the side now. 8/10

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Bombed forward well and was not afraid to run at the Newcastle back-line. Scored a superb goal from around 18-yards or so, driving the ball low and hard into Tim Krul’s bottom right hand corner. 6.5/10

Theo Walcott – Scored a hat-trick and claimed two assists – Man of the Match performance. Still needs to tweak some areas of his game if he wants to secure the centre-forward position, but he’s doing well at the mo. 9/10

SUBS:

Olivier Giroud – Replaced Chamberlain in the 73rd minute and netted two superb goals – one with a bullet diving header and the other with a powerful right-footed strike from inside the Newcastle penalty area. Proving why he possibly deserves to lead the Arsenal front-line. 8.5/10

Aaron Ramsey – Another cameo performance from the Welshman. Came on for Podolski in the 82nd minute, Had a few touches of the ball and looks to be gaining a little confidence. 5/10

Francis Coquelin – Was brought on in the 85th minute for Cazorla to tighten up the midfield, which the Frenchman did. Kept position well. 5/10

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