Arsenal travelled across London to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon. The Gunners had lost their first game to Manchester City over the weekend. Despite the loss, many fans are still supporting new manager, Unai Emery. They believe that he is the man who can guide the club to success. Meanwhile, for Chelsea, the Blues won their opening fixture against Huddersfield at the Kirklees Stadium. It was a convincing victory for Mauricio Sarri’s side, who lost Thibaut Courtois in the summer.
Arsenal Player Ratings
The Gunners have often put up some pretty bad performances at Stamford Bridge. In their last ten trips, Arsenal had lost on nine occasions and played a draw most recently. For this match, Emery brought in Alex Iwobi and Nacho Monreal into the starting line-up. New signings Bernd Leno and Lucas Torreira continue to miss the starting eleven.
It was an eccentric first half for both sides. The home team scored two goals quickly as they punished the Gunners for missing their chances. Not long later, Arsenal found themselves back into the game. At some point of the match, the North London club looked like they were on the verge of winning the match and earning all three points. Things were not meant to be when Alonso found the winner and scored with just ten minutes on the clock. Here was how the Arsenal players fared in the loss.
Ratings
Petr Cech – 7.5
Cech could not do much about the three goals which Chelsea scored. However, if not for the goalkeeper, Arsenal could have conceded many more goals. Cech really did put on a great show at Stamford Bridge.
Hector Bellerin – 6.5
He was caught out of position and had some miscommunication with Mkhitaryan. After Chelsea doubled their lead, Bellerin learnt his lesson. When Hazard came on for Chelsea, the Belgian gave the defenders all sorts of trouble. That limited Bellerin’s opportunity to get forward.
Shkodran Mustafi – 6
Mustafi allowed Morata to get the better of him far too easily. After the break, he improved his quality and displayed a few bright moments at the back.
Sokratis – 6
Towards the end, Sokratis became exhausted. He tried his best to track the runs of the fellow Chelsea forwards. Together with Mustafi, there is still work to be done in training sessions.
Nacho Monreal – 7
The veteran left-back returned to full training this week and started for his side. This performance against Chelsea proved that he is certainly still the first choice full back. Monreal made great runs down the flank and exerted pressure on his opponents.
Granit Xhaka – 5
Xhaka was still trying to find his way back. A rash challenge on his opponent caused him to receive a booking early. Eventually, the Swiss was taken out of the game after the break and it remains to be seen whether his partnership with Guendouzi would go on.
Matteo Guendouzi – 6
Guendouzi eyed a great pass to Aubameyang who failed to score. However, his partnership with Xhaka does not seem to be as effective as planned. Individually, the French teenager hs superb talent. When he played with Torreira, he seemed more comfortable in the midfield.
Alex Iwobi – 6
The equalizer from him lighted the spirit of the team. He did not get much of the ball but when he did, he performed well. However, after the break, Chelsea got the better of him and marked him well.
Mesut Ozil – 5
A poor performance from the German as he continued to struggle in big matches. At the same time, with all the pressure on him, it is unlikely that he would be able to perform well.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 7
Mkhitaryan looked nervy and uncertain in the opening stages. Then, he became more confident and disciplined. He picked out when to run and where to run towards.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 6
Aubameyang missed a few great chances. Despite his great positioning, he could not score in the first 45 minutes. If he had scored in the first half, Arsenal would have gone into the break as leaders. However, he failed to score for two consecutive matches.
Substitutes
Lucas Torreira – 6.5
Upon coming on from Xhaka, Torreira immediately had an impact on the game. He made a couple of crucial interceptions. However, the midfielder could have done better in preventing Alonso from scoring the winner.
Aaron Ramsey – 6
Ramsey hardly received the ball and as such, there was little he could create or contribute in terms of attack. When his opponents became far more dominant, it severely limited his chances of attacking.
Alexandre Lacazette – 5
The Frenchman’s misplaced and awkward backpass caused Hazard to be able to provide an assist. Luck was not with the striker for he failed to make a breakthrough for his side.
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