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:
4. 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.