After a shaky first 15 minutes against Leicester City, Arsenal took hold of the match and cruised to an emphatic 5-2 victory.

During the opening stages of the game our defence appeared to be all over the place and I felt sure we were in for an embarrassing result. However, before long, we semi-sorted out our positioning.

The introduction of Mikel Arteta early on due to Mathieu Flamini getting injured slowed the game down a bit, which is exactly what we needed and allowed our attack to take over. This meant, despite going 1-0 in the first quarter, we came back to win.

Alexis had the stand-out performance, netting his first hat-trick for Arsenal.

Petr Cech – 7

Although we let in two goals, the keeper also had some strong moments, notably in the 84th minute when he made a superb block to deny Mahrez and then a minute later swept the ball out of play cleanly with his hand.

Nacho Monreal – 7.5

Yet another solid match from the Spaniard who was particularly useful at releasing the forwards, particularly for the first goal from Theo Walcott.

He also got a great assist for Giroud’s goal.

Laurent Koscielny – 7.5

Kos was a force at the back as usual. The centre-back consistently puts his body on the line, risking injury, to see the ball out safely.

Per Mertesacker – 7

The centre-back was understandably sluggish against Leicester after playing two matches in four days following a nasty chest infection. However, he was far from terrible and I’m confident he’ll bounce back as his fitness improves.

Hector Bellerin – 7.5

The right-back continued to look like a huge talent. He was assertive and mature, and offered a lot going forward. The youngster also looked keen to prove why he should be starting over Debuchy.

Santi Cazorla – 8.5

The Spaniard now picked up more assists than any other player in the Premier League since joining Arsenal. He was an integral part of the play and the assist for Walcott’s goal was stunning.

Mathieu Flamini – N/A

The midfielder came off just minutes into the first half after sustaining a suspected hamstring injury.

Mesut Ozil – 8.5

Another stunning performance. Alexis and the German appear to be on completely the same wavelength and his chipped assist, as well another flick earlier in the game, reminded everyone that’s he’s an absolute genius.

Aaron Ramsey – 8

Although many are frustrated by the midfielder not being played in his preferred position, he was still solid and was a calm head amongst the frantic first half.

Alexis Sanchez – 9.5

Alexis is back to goalscoring ways and couldn’t have performed better. The Chilean netted his first hat-trick for the Gunners and was constantly looking to score more. It’s great to have him back.

Theo Walcott – 8.5

The forward kept his decent form going by scoring the equalising goal. Before and after that, he’d also been making the right runs and looking lively.

SUBS

Mikel Arteta – 7.5

Although he was unfairly criticised for his lack of pace, the midfielder came on early for Flamini and calmed the whole game down, which we needed.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6

The winger came on late so didn’t have a huge amount of time to really make an impact. As ever, he looked keen and energetic in possession.

Olivier Giroud – 6

Despite coming on with only about 10 minutes to go, the Frenchman scored. Hopefully this will kick-start his season.