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.
3Forwards
Henrikh Mkhitaryan 8
Mkhitaryan was the focal point of Arsenal’s attacks in the first half.
By the break, he had taken six shots, and was very unlucky not to have a goal.
In the second period he put his creative hat on and set up Özil for 3-0.
He lost possession a couple of times, but otherwise it was a return to the form he showed at the Emirates against Everton.
Alex Iwobi 7.5
Iwobi never seems to get the credit he deserves when things go right.
He wasn’t Arsenal’s best performer on the night, but you can see the other players benefit from his presence on the pitch.
He links up the attacks well, and makes good runs off the ball. It was his shot that Monreal turned in on the rebound.
Danny Welbeck 5.5
Welbeck looked very shaky in front of goal, and snatched at his chances, or didn’t take the shot at all.
In his defence, he made a few opportunities for his teammates, but didn’t threaten Östersund himself at all.
Hopefully he was just out of practice, and we’ll see more from him next week.
Next, subs…