My Arsenal player ratings from today’s 4-1 win over Sunderland

Here are my Arsenal player ratings from this afternoon’s 4-1 win against Sunderland:

Wojciech Szczesny – Had a fairly comfortable outing and commanded his area well. A bad decision where he should have caught the ball instead of punching it led to Sunderalnd’s goal late on. 7/10

Bacary Sagna – Started off in his usual role at right-back then switched to the opposite side in the beginning of the second-half and ended the game in the centre of defence. Had a good game. 7/10

Per Mertesacker – Was positioned well throughout and read the game superbly. 7.5/10

Laurent Koscielny – Was strong in the tackle, read the game well and scored Arsenal’s fourth with a bullet header. Great performance from the resolute Frenchman. 8/10

Nacho Monreal – Got forward well and was equally as good when defending. Only managed to play for 45 minutes. 6/10

Mikel Arteta – Kept things neat and tidy with simple passes. Never complicated things and had a decent game. 7/10

Jack Wilshere – Played some lovely passes and always looked to engineer something from midfield. Bagged an assist. 7.5/10

Lukas Podolski – Always looked to create space and have a go at goal. Made some intelligent runs down the left flank and got back when not in possession. Played the full 90 since Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool over a year ago. 7/10

Santi Cazorla – Sprayed the ball around well and made some clever runs to disrupt the Sunderland back-line. A better performance from the little Spaniard which saw him contribute an assist as well. 7/10

Tomas Rosicky – The 33-year-old showed his experience by dictating the play at times. Got forward well, always looked to create and got Arsenal second with a clever flick over the goalkeeper before some stunning play. 7.5/10

Olivier Giroud – The French striker caused a lot of problems for Sunderland’s defence and linked up well with those around him. Bagged a brace and made a goal as well. 8.5/10

SUBS:

Carl Jenkinson – Came on for Monreal at the start of the second-half and was deployed in his accomplished right-back role. Had plenty of energy and bombed down the wing frequently. Was never troubled. 6/10

Mathieu Flamini – Replace Koscielny in the 66th minute and was told to play in the left-back role. Was positioned well and got stuck in. 6/10

Serge Gnabry – Only featured for the last 17 minutes of the game, having come on for Rosicky, and quickly got into the swing of things. Showed off his dribbling skills and caused some trouble in the final third. 6/10