Despite being poor positionally against Manchester City, Shkodran Mustafi still managed to come away with a goal and assist.

The centreback’s positioning was, once again, all over the place against City.

Although Laurent Koscielny only played half the match, if you compare his positioning to Mustafi’s, you can see how much further up the pitch the German plays.

koscielny heatmap v city
Kos
mustafi city heatmap
Mustafi

While having one centreback in a slightly more advanced position isn’t necessarily a bad thing, you can tell from the heatmap how long Mustafi is dawdling in these positions and also how much he’s wandering along the wing.

Saying all this, Mustafi isn’t a bad defender in general. His pass completion rate was a little lower than usual against City (31/47) at just 66%. He’s usually at around 82% and notoriously one of Arsenal’s better passers. He also won 3/4 aerial duels in prime areas, one of which led to his goal.

mustafi headers v city

The German also created a chance, which led to Theo Walcott’s equaliser in the first half. This means that he had a hand (or foot) in both goals – not that common for a centreback.

Elsewhere, Mustafi won 1/2 take-ons, three ball recoveries, 3/4 tackles, one interception, 2/2 clearances and committed two fouls.

Not the prettiest performance from the 24-year-old but, in hindsight, he was crucial.

Stats via Who Scored, Squawka, Statszone.