Mikel Arteta got his first win as Arsenal manager tonight after a 2-0 home win against Manchester United.
The three points gathered tonight now see the Gunners sitting in 10th place in the Premier League table, nine points off fourth placed Chelsea and only three behind bitter London rivals Tottenham.
Arteta looks to have instilled some belief and passion back in the team and was duly rewarded as a result.
Here are my Arsenal player ratings from tonight’s game:
Bernd Leno – The German put his horror mistake last Sunday to bed with a relativelty comfortable performance. was rarely tested. 7/10
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – Coped well with the threat of United’s attack and although they got by a few times, he was fairly solid in the right-back position. 7/10
Sokratis – New Year, new man. The Greek centre-back was solid at the back alongside David Luiz and also bagged Arsenal’s second from point-blank range. 8/10
David Luiz – Like Sokratis, the Brazilian looked a totally different player tonight. Commanded the back-line magnificently and encouraged those around him. 8.5/10
Sead Kolasinac – Got booked early which didnt bode well for the rest of the game, but the full-back got forawrd at every opportunity and played a key role in the first goal. 7/10
Lucas Torreira – Showed why he is Arsenal’s best defensive midfielder. Covered every blade of grass, got stuck in and showed fight…something we have been missing as of late. Man of the Match. 9/10
Granit Xhaka – The Switzerland interantional was another who turned up wanting to play tonight. Kept position well and worked well alongside Torreira. 7/10
Mesut Ozil – The most I’ve seen him run in a long time and looked like he enjoyed the outing. Always looking to create but ran out of steam late on. 7/10
Nicolas Pepe – Looked a real threat going forward but didn’t really test United’s full-back much. Latched on to a low cross which led to Arsenal taking the lead. 7.5/10
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Played most of the game out wide on the left which led to no real efforts on goal. Got back well when out of possession. 6.5/10
Alexandre Lacazette – Made some good runs forward and had a couple of chances which led to nothing. Worked hard off the ball. 7/10
SUBS:
Reiss Nelson – On for Pepe in the 63rd minute. Made some decent runs forward but threatened little. 6/10
Bukayo Saka – The youngster came on for the injures Kolasinac in the 69th minute. Did OK in the Bosnian’s place. 6/10
Matteo Guendouzi – Replaced Torreira in the 77th minute to add some more depth in midfield. 5/10
