Arsenal put in a professional display to win 3-0 away in Östersund on Thursday night.
Although the team never really hit top gear, a couple of individual performances shone through.
David Ospina and Mesut Özil were the stars as Arsenal made sure they can take it easy in the return leg next week.
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Mohamed Elneny 7
This was a standard Elneny performance.
Off the ball, he made a couple of interceptions, but otherwise just held his position well. In possession, he completed 97% of his passes, and saw the ball more than anybody else on the pitch.
He only created one chance with all that possession, but then playing the final ball isn’t really his game.
He did his job.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles 7.5
Arsene Wenger said after the game that “80 per cent” of Maitland-Niles’ game was good, and I think that’s fair.
He also completed over 90% of his passes, and created one chance. He was far more impressive with his ball recoveries, winning it back 18 times.
Unfortunately he also got caught in possession a few times, including for the penalty. That’s the area he needs to work on.
Mesut Özil 9
Arsenal’s other star on the night, Özil made the match look easy.
Every dribble he attempted was successful, and he created three great chances for his teammates. One of those chances, a pass back to Mkhitaryan, should really have resulted in a penalty when the keeper took him out.
It didn’t matter, as Monreal scored moments later.
In the second half, he added the cherry on top of his game with a goal, controlling a fast low cross well and finishing confidently.
The away fans clearly enjoyed the show, and sung his name repeatedly.
Next, forwards…