Arsenal drew 1-1 to Spurs in this season’s first north London derby.
So here are my Arsenal player rating’s from today’s game (feel free to disagree with me if you want):
Petr Cech – Made a great save from a close-range effort from Christian Eriksen in the second-half to keep it at 1-1, but a comfortable afternoon for the 34-year-old, having only conceded through a penalty. 6/10
Hector Bellerin – Got some crucial and precise challenges in and got forward well. Had one opportunity in the second-half at goal but it came to nothing. 6/10
Shkodran Mustafi – Was superior aerially today, but the German was caught out on a few occasions with his lack of speed which luckily his defensive team-mates covered. 5.5/10
Laurent Koscielny – The French centre-back was rock solid today. Made some great tackles throughout and was up for the fight. Unfortunately, he stuck his foot out to concede a needless penalty. 6.5/10
Nacho Monreal – Struggled to contain Son Hueng Min at times and was overwhelmed down the left flank due to the lack of support from Iwobi. However, the Spaniard did produce a match-winning block late on in the game. 5.5/10
Francis Coquelin – The tenacious midfielder got stuck in and neutralized Spurs’ attacks coming from the middle of the park by getting stuck in and showed heart until he was replaced. Was one of Arsenal’s better performers today. 6.5/10
Granit Xhaka – Didn’t have a big influence on the game. Kept things tidy in midfield and tried to get into got areas when on the attack. Nothing special from the Swiss. 5/10
Alex Iwobi – I don’t know whether it was the occasion or if he is starting to feel tired, but the young winger just couldn’t get into the game. Rarely dropped back to help Monreal and wasn’t creative enough to cause Spurs any real problems. Had one effort on goal which he should have buried. 4/10
Theo Walcott – Looked fired up for the game and was chasing loose cause. Cracked the post with a great effort in the second-half but them withered away as the game wore on. 5/10
Mesut Ozil – Another Gunner that wasn’t himself today. Struggled to find any openings to create and influence the game. Cue the ‘Mesut doesn’t perform in the big-game’ bandwagon. 5/10
Alexis Sanchez – Didn’t test the goalkeeper once throughout but did try to get into the positions to do so but failed. Not a good outing for the Chilean forward. 5/10
SUBS:
Aaron Ramsey – Replaced Coquelin in the 64th minute to add some more attack to the Arsenal side. Unfortunately, all I saw was the Welshman blast two long range efforts well over the bar. 5/10
Olivier Giroud – On for Iwobi with 20 minutes to go and got straight into the game. Offered the Gunners more threat aerially and won two headers which were on target. Was a good substitution by Arsene Wenger, but perhaps the French striker should have started. 5/10
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Came on for Walcott in the 70th minute, but wasn’t effective whatsoever. Not enough time to get into the game. 5/10
