Arsenal made hard work of another home win on Sunday, this time against Bournemouth.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 06: David Luiz of Arsenal with Callum Chambers of Arsenal at the end of the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and AFC Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on October 06, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 06: David Luiz of Arsenal with Calum Chambers of Arsenal at the end of the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and AFC Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on October 06, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Arsenal dominated the opening 45 minutes, even if that was down to Bournemouth’s poor performance as much as anything else. The Gunners took the lead through a David Luiz header, they had a few chances to add to it and perhaps should’ve had a penalty too.

In the second half, Bournemouth rallied and looked the better of the two sides, certainly having a greater quality and quantity of chances after the break. Arsenal managed to dig in and hold on for the win, if in rather uninspiring circumstances.

Let’s have a look at our player ratings for the match.

Goalkeeper

  • Bernd Leno 7 – At last a clean sheet for Leno, his first since the opening day of the season. The goalkeeper made a couple of good saves and did well not to give Callum Wilson the chance to go down for a penalty after coming out to meet him.

Defence

  • Calum Chambers 8.5 – Made some excellent last-ditch interceptions and clearances and led the team in tackles won. He wasn’t as effective in possession but it was more about grinding out the result today and he played a big part in that.
  • Sokratis Papastathopoulos 5 – Had a couple of moments of madness but it wasn’t all bad. Sokratis and Luiz remain an unconvincing pairing, as they don’t seem to balance each other out well – even when one or both of them play well.
  • David Luiz 7.5 – A slightly more assured performance than his centre-back partner, but Luiz had the advantage of also scoring the winning goal. It really was a good header and he deserves credit for it.
  • Sead Kolasinac 7 – Defensively more solid than he got credit for from the fans. Going forward it was the same old story again, decent positions, bad crosses.

Midfield

  • Granit Xhaka 6 – A little lucky not to pick up a yellow card (which would have left him suspended for the next game) after committing the most fouls of anyone on the pitch. Other than that he was effective but a bit uninspiring in possession.
  • Matteo Guendouzi 8 – Drove forward effectively, completing all three of his attempted dribbles. He made a vital clearance and won a couple of tackles, and his passing was mostly good.
  • Dani Ceballos 6 – Created the most chances of anyone on the team, but mostly just from being the set-piece taker. Offered little protection to those behind him, getting dribbled past a game-high four times whilst making zero tackles or interceptions.

Forwards

  • Nicolas Pepe 7 – Pepe’s first-half performance was good, as he bent one shot narrowly wide, assisted the opening goal and could have had at least one penalty. He gave up the ball a bit too easily after the break and didn’t press enough, but mostly this was encouraging.
  • Bukayo Saka 7.5 – Once again, Saka won the ball back a lot, and only Chambers and Martinelli made more tackles than his three. The winger completed three dribbles and created a couple of good chances, before being sacrificed for Lucas Torreira late on.
  • Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7 – Very much deprived of service, Aubameyang only got a good chance to score in second-half injury time, hitting the post with a sliding effort. He looked sharp but isolated.

Substitutes

  • Gabriel Martinelli 8 – Along with Chambers, Martinelli topped the charts for tackles won against Bournemouth, despite only playing 27 minutes. He also won a couple of aerial duels and went close with a good shot. He’s a bit of a live wire.
  • Joe Willock 6 – Created a chance, had a few good touches, wasn’t really too involved though.
  • Lucas Torreira 6 – As with Willock, didn’t really have a huge impact, other than winning one tackle and taking a couple of corners.