December is off to a good start with a huge 5-1 win away to struggling West Ham.
Our first trip to London Stadium started off well and ended even better, with the usual “Oh my God we’re gonna lose” in some parts of first and second half. It wasn’t realistic though, West Ham were really bad and we wore our shooting boots tonight.
Petr Čech – 7
To be honest, Čech wasn’t tested much tonight but he could have reacted a bit better for that Payet free kick before the Carroll (ugh) goal. Other than that, he was good and saved some hard shots.
Gabriel – 7
Gabriel has had a rough week and Arsene wasn’t sure if he will be able to perform today but he put in a great performance in a position he’s not sued to. He was pushed and kicked and even bled a bit but he did great, much better than Jenkinson in last few matches.
Shkodran Mustafi – 7
A great performance from Mustafi who is still unbeaten in an Arsenal shirt. Besides being his usual reliable self in defence – minus that unnecessary foul that gave the free kick the Hammers scored from – he assisted Alexis for his 1st goal with a precise pass.
Laurent Koscielny – 7.5
Do I even have to say how grateful I am for Koscielny? I mean, this man is a simply amazing, world class defender. He once again had a few amazing clearances and saved us from conceding. Yeah, he got a yellow card but it was not deserved. A great match from our captain once again.
Nacho Monreal – 7
Nacho from last season is back! Well, we’ll see if he can keep going like today. He was really up for it in the first half, with great runs and not so good crosses. It was much better than we’ve seen so far from him this season. The fact he was up against Arbeloa helped.
Francis Coquelin – 8
Hate him or love him, Coquelin was great today. He was everywhere, topping all defensive stats with most interceptions and ball recoveries. He started the move for first goal and really worked hard during whole match both defensively and in attack.
Granit Xhaka – 8
Come on, Wenger, this guy has to start more matches. The pair of defensive midfielders worked great today and combined well with defence and attack. Xhaka had some sweet, sexy passes during whole match and, just like Coquelin, he was great defensively too.
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain – 8
This match was typical Ox performance – you curse him, moan about him, want him subbed off, and then he goes and scores a screamer and assists Alexis. He was good, trying hard and creating chances but also wasting some. An 8 for him to keep him motivated.
Mesut Özil – 8
Mesut opened the scoring today with a simple tap in. I say simple, but De Bruyne missed a similar sitter earlier today. He also assisted Alexis and created a lot in general. Only two misplaced passes during whole match – Payet who?
Theo Walcott – 6
Honestly forgot he was playing somewhere during 1st half. He looked off during whole match (well, until he was subbed off) but he did almost score in the 2nd half. Not a match to remember for Theo.
Alexis Sanchez – 11
Yeah, 11. I planned to give him a 10 but Stephen insisted on 11 and who am I to complain? This man, wow. Hattrick, assist, and a few other possible goals. Running the show and loving it. Made it look so easy. That third goal was filthy. There’s talk on Twitter that this could be the best Arsenal hattrick since Bergkamp vs Leicester!
SUBS
Aaron Ramsey – 6
Ramsey did well, helped us to get control in midfield when he came on. Created some chances too and even could have scored but West Ham’s keeper saved his close range shot.
Mohamed Elneny, Alex Iwobi – 0
Didn’t leave an impression
