Although the 1-0 win over Norwich was pretty tedious, a win is a win right now.
The first half was your run-of-the-mill Arsenal snooze-fest, which I think we’re getting used to now.
The introduction of Welbeck in the second half, however, did liven things up and the striker went on to score. What would we do without him, eh?
Petr Cech – 8
The keeper was barely tested. However, when he was called into action, he made some good saves, namely in the first half when he parried away a Redmond volley.
Hector Bellerin – 6
The full-back put in a reasonable performance. However, he really needs to keep working on his final ball.
Per Mertesacker – 6
Per was solid until he was taken off with what appears to be a hamstring injury in the second half.
Laurent Koscielny – 7
As ever, the centre-back wasn’t afraid to step in and make big tackles when needed, which was demonstrated in the 27th minute when he slid in to dispossess Pinto.
Nacho Monreal – 7.5
Yet another solid performance from the Spaniard.
Mohamed Elneny – 6.5
The midfielder was solid yet again and put in some great passes.
Aaron Ramsey – 6
I’m not sure I’m seeing the same ‘terrible’ Rambo people on Twitter are watching. Has he hit form yet? No, but his work-rate and effort is unreal.
Mesut Ozil – 7.5
Although the midfielder was mostly quiet, his genius was demonstrated a couple of times through flashes of unique brilliance. In the second half, he looked even brighter, providing a stunning pass for Alexis from the middle of the park through the middle.
Alexis Sanchez – 6.5
The forward had a quiet game, which could have been improved by moving out a bit wider. However, he did have some decent chances. The Chilean did not look happy when he was subbed off in the final minutes.
Alex Iwobi – 6
The 19-year-old showed promising movement from the beginning, having a decent chance narrowly roll past the far post in the opening minutes. However, when he was taken off in the second half in favour of Welbz, we looked a lot livelier.
Olivier Giroud – 6
The striker wasn’t great. Although many fans like to use him unfairly as a scapegoat whenever we’re impotent in front of goal, he should have done better with a number of his chances. He’s now taking up space and his movement is suffering. Saying this, he did get the assist for Welbeck’s goal.
SUBS
Gabriel – 6
The defender came on in the second half for Per and performed well, putting in a vital challenge in the 70th minute. The same couldn’t be said for a tackle he put in in the final minutes.
Danny Welbeck – 6
Welbz once again proved why he’s such an asset to the team. He came on and scored within minutes.