Granit Xhaka’s winner against Chelsea saw Arsenal book their place in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley, with Nacho Monreal delivering a man-of-the-match performance.

Without new Manchester United signing Alexis Sanchez and cup-tied Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Arsenal had to step up. Far from carrying their form from the 4-1 weekend win into the match, the Gunners started slowly, conceding to Eden Hazard within five minutes.

Fortunately, they got back on level terms quickly, before scoring the winner in the second period. Goals from Granit Xhaka and Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger gave Arsenal the win in the end.

The Gunners showed a lot of fight to win the match, even if they weren’t always at their best. Here’s how the players got on:

Defence

David Ospina – 6

There wasn’t much Ospina could do about Chelsea’s goal, but otherwise he played well enough.

Surprisingly, the keeper didn’t have much to do. As usual, he charged out and failed to get anywhere near the ball on a corner and got lucky.

Other than that, a decent performance.

Nacho Monreal – 9

Arsenal’s hero once again, Monreal forced Chelsea into an early own goal with his header.

The defender completed 92% of his passes, won three aerial duels and three tackles. Overall, he was solid all over the pitch.

Shkodran Mustafi – 7

Along with Laurent Koscielny, Mustafi didn’t do enough for Chelsea’s opening goal.

After that, did well to keep the Blues to just the one goal, and earned the win.

Laurent Koscielny – 7

As above, Koscielny should’ve done more to prevent Hazard getting in behind for the opener.

After that, he found his feet and performed almost as well as he did at the weekend.

Hector Bellerin – 7

I have very mixed feelings on Bellerin’s performance.

At times, he was excellent, throwing himself in front of Marcos Alonso’s shot and marshalling Chelsea’s wingers well all night.

On the other hand, he made a few mistakes on the ball. Still, not a bad performance overall.

Midfield

Mohamed Elneny – 6.5

Elneny saw more of the ball than anyone else on the pitch, but didn’t really do too much with it.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing as the deepest midfielder, so long as he quickly recycles possession, which he did.

Still, I would’ve liked to see him winning the ball a bit more, considering his position.

Granit Xhaka – 7

A classic Xhaka performance in an Arsenal shirt.

The midfield made just enough mistakes to get some fans on his back, then shut them all up with a goal.

You never really know what you’re going to get from the Swiss midfielder this season, and this match was a perfect example of that.

Jack Wilshere – 7.5

Wilshere’s passing was a bit off in the first-half. Although he mostly found his target, the ball often went behind the player receiving.

The England international picked things up in the second period though. He achieved 93% pass accuracy, completed all of his six dribbles and made as many tackles as Xhaka and Elneny combined.

A good performance in the end.

Forwards

Alex Iwobi – 7

Like Bellerin, Iwobi was very solid defensively but disappointing at the other end.

He made more tackles than anyone else on the pitch, but only completed 77% of his passes.

Iwobi also missed a good chance to make it 3-1. Still, his defensive contributions helped Arsenal to the win, so I can’t complain.

Mesut Özil – 8.5

Özil is another player who played much better in the second half than the first.

He constantly provided a counter-attacking threat when Chelsea started to push for an equaliser.

Only Iwobi’s failure to convert denied the German an assist, and he created the most chances on the pitch.

Alexandre Lacazette – 7

Lacazette needs to do more to make chances for himself, but he’s doing well creating opportunities for others.

His deflected pass led to the winning goal, and he held the ball up well in general. I can’t help but feel like a strike partnership with a player like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would really help him shine.

Substitutes

Aaron Ramsey – 6

Ramsey was hardly involved at all.

He made three passes, two of which found their targets. He also made one interception. That was it.

Sead Kolasinac – 5.5

Kolasinac won an aerial duel well, but only made one accurate pass after coming on.

He was also dispossessed once in his short time on the field. The defender needs to do more to get ahead of Monreal, but in his defence, he was out of position.