Seeing as nobody else has bothered... Dubravka - 5 - Goalkeepers standing so far to one side that if it goes over a wall it's in grinds my gears... Dubravka was more central than usual, but literally stand in the middle, reduce your wall to 2, and you should save 90% of all efforts on goal from 30 yards. One day someone will catch on I'm sure. He got a hand to the second goal, but couldn't keep it out, some very dodgy kicks straight out of play, and invited a bit of pressure on himself, made no saves of note. I'll give him an average rating. Yedlin - 6 - I think he mostly did well against Aubameyang, considering the height difference, and Monreal only got a few sniffs. One chance of note caused by him diving in/falling over, and the goal came from his side, but thought he played ok. Lascelles - 7 - Good leader, dominated with his head, shame he had to come off. Fernandez - 7 - Thought he was fairly calm and solid throughout. Couple of good interceptions and more confidence with ball at feet than our other centre backs. Dummett - 5 - Just a slight drop from a 6 because Lacazette got past him a couple of times and I thought he offered nothing going forward to support Murphy. Ritchie - 6 - Hard working as always, some great corners into the box before Kenedy came on and started dribbling it to the first man, and one sensational whip in (training ground move) first half which was just beyond 3 of our attackers. Hayden - 3 - It's not his fault he is below Championship standard, nevermind the premier league, nor that he wanted away and nobody fancied him. His performance was lethargic throughout, including a moment where he was put through on goal but looked like he was running in tar and ended up nowhere near it. He just doesn't offer anything other than the occasional ability to complete a five yard pass. Diame - 5 - Without Shelvey in play he has to more than run around as a big unit, and while I thought he played ok, he lost the ball and struggled against the quicker Arsenal midfielders. Murphy - 6.5 - Probably will divide opinion, because there are those who thought he was useless, and those who thought he was our only attacking threat. I've planted my arse on the fence because while he did quite a few good things, his end product was a bit wasteful and he faded second half. His use today was tactical I assume, pinning Bellerin back from his usual wing-back role, which seemed to work in patches. He put in a couple of decent crosses, a couple of poor ones without looking, and should have created a goal with a little headed cross which Cech ended claiming. Perez - 5.5 - Industry, but if he's not scoring, he doesn't usually do too much. I wish we could afford for him to just be a goal poacher, but we can't. Couple of decent runs, usually crowded out. Should have passed to Ritchie first half when on a break and should have shot first time on the edge of the area, otherwise few opportunities. Joselu - 2.5 - His performance was largely summed up by the volley at the far post which he spooned a million miles in the air and out for a throw in on the opposite side. Every passing move seemed to break down when it came to him. Ineffective as a target man, not intelligent enough to stay onside when making a run, what can you do? He missed a cracking opportunity with a free header, but I've given him 2.5 because I suppose he does get into the right areas from time to time. Subs - Clark - 7.5 - Took his goal very well which means I have bumped him up from a decent performance to our stand-out player. Not as dominant as Lascelles, but defended fairly well. Kenedy - 2 - Lots of rumours flying around that he thought he was going to be at Chelsea this year, so can't be arsed anymore. I think it's far simpler than that, he came back from pre-season out of shape, had a couple of off performances because the opposition are wiser to his game and his little tricks weren't coming off, and he's lost confidence. His corners were pathetic, his passing largely pants, and he was caught in possession and lead to a 3 vs 2 for Arsenal which they somehow messed up. He is by far our best and most technically gifted player, Rafa must work out how to get him firing or we're down. Muto - 5 - Very little time to impact the game, so average 5 given. Ran around like a headless chicken, with his legs going faster than he was actually running. I am afraid to say I don't see anything in this lad, why did we buy him? Rafa - 5 - We played well first half, we just couldn't create the chance to take a deserved lead, but we dropped second half. Nothing can be done about the first goal. The subs were limited by Lascelles injury, but Muto on instead of Rondon? Hmmmm....
Lascelles for me was MOM. Shown by when he came off. Agree with marking except Clark. Nowhere near 7.5 as he wasn’t stand out and was simply average and not saved by a last minute goal which anyone could have scor...anyone but Joselu could have scor...anyone but Joselu and Perez could have scored. Perez. 5.5?. You’re having a laugh or you had too much vino in the posh end. Perez made Joselu look like Shearer at his prime and for the avoidance of any doubt, Joselu isn’t Shearer at his prime. I’ve not seen someone run around so much so totally ineffectually since Pringle was leading the line. Get him to take the shopping out of a paper bag and you’ll end up starving. He failed to put any pressure on anyone except my heart watching him. Arsenal players just ignored him as they knew he wouldn’t tackle when he didn’t have the ball and that he would find the nearest blind alley when he did. He was absolutely shocking yesterday. If I was Rafa I’d drop him except no-one would actually notice. Kenedy. I would give 4.5. He did some good things and some bad but at least he raised the possibility of a threat (more than that waste of space Perez). Joselu. Think 2.5 is generous TBF. Another player who Arsenal didn’t have to worry about exemplified by his late header which went up not down.
