Arsenal secured a fifth consecutive win and a first clean sheet of the season against Everton on Sunday, and moved up to sixth in the table.

Playing the second of four straight matches at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal were keen to keep making a good impression on their supporters. The team had to wait until the 56th minute to take the lead, after a relatively slow first-half performance, but eventually they secured the win fairly comfortably. By Arsenal standards, at least.

Let’s have a look at how each player did individually in the victory.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Petr Cech 9

Cech was probably Arsenal’s man-of-the-match, and had to be alert for the full 90 minutes to keep a clean sheet.

In the opening minutes he had to smother a Calvert-Lewin chance that looked a certain goal. Later in the match he made some more crucial saves, including one from a Keane header that he did well to keep out and push away from danger.

Despite counter-productive sarcastic cheers from the crowd whenever Cech played it long, his work on the ball was also good enough on the day.

Hector Bellerin 8

Coming back in for Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bellerin was excellent on and off the ball. A lot of Arsenal fans were worried about Richarlison, but Bellerin made sure those fears were unfounded, marshalling the Everton wide man effectively all day. In possession, he misplaced just one pass in the entire 90 minutes.

Shkodran Mustafi 6.5

Mustafi wasn’t terrible on Sunday, but he still looks shaky in the Arsenal defence. Whether he’s next to Rob Holding or Sokratis Papastathopoulos, he always looks the more likely of the two to be caught out of position, or to play a pass that puts a teammate under massive pressure.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos 6

Sokratis started the game well enough, and made a good tactical foul to prevent a dangerous Everton attack at one point. Then he got injured, and had to come off in the first-half. Not ideal, with Arsenal’s already limited centre-back options.

Nacho Monreal 6

I’m afraid I wasn’t impressed with Monreal defensively on Sunday. He lost a lot of duels, and led the defence for the number of fouls he committed, as well as the number of times he was dispossessed. Going forward was bit better, but he couldn’t find his target with a single cross, so it was still far from perfect.

Perhaps the Spaniard is suffering a bit from having to play every game at the moment. Hopefully he improves this week.

Midfield

Lucas Torreira 7.5

Torreira looked lively again, but took a while to grow into the game on this occasion. The early yellow card he picked up could have caused Arsenal problems, but fortunately the midfielder was smart enough not to give Jon Moss the chance to issue him a second. His interception-turned-pass in the build up to the opening goal was crucial.

Granit Xhaka 7

There was no one more involved in this game than Xhaka. He made 101 passes on the day, 33 ahead of the next highest individual total. The Swiss midfielder won the joint-most aerials of anyone as well, with four.

Xhaka had trouble with the way Everton put him under pressure, particularly at the start of the game. Playing the ball forward he was as confident as always though.

Aaron Ramsey 7

Ramsey assisted both of the goals, but it’s hard to give him much credit for either. One was a fairly innocuous pass that Lacazette finished incredibly well, the other was a fortunate flick after he almost slipped over.

In the first half the Welshman really struggled, giving the ball away a lot, and failing to find a way into the game. He did improve after the break, even if his most important contributions were a bit lucky. A mixed performance overall, but he did just about enough.

Forwards

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7.5

Aubameyang added another goal after his brace in midweek, and created a great chance for Monreal that the Spaniard saw well saved by Pickford. He also hit the woodwork with a cross. Other than that, the 29-year-old was pretty quiet, and came off early after starting three games in a week.

Mesut Özil 8

Özil had another good game, his third in a week after goals against Newcastle and Vorskla. If Ramsey didn’t fall over, the German would’ve had an assist on this occasion, to add to those goals.

Surprisingly he also led the team in tackles won, showing his desire to fight for the points. It still feels like a bit of a waste to play Özil out wide whilst Ramsey struggles in the middle, but the playmaker has the quality to make it work.

Alexandre Lacazette 8.5

Lacazette is in a great run of form, and carried Arsenal to victory along with Cech this time around. His goal was very well taken, but it just topped off another game full of great hold-up play, and a lot of fight with and without the ball.

Lacazette made three tackles, two clearances and one interception as Arsenal’s centre-forward.

Click ‘Next’ for the substitutes

Substitutes

Rob Holding 7.5

Holding came on and did very well, showing confidence playing out from the back and solid defensive work throughout. With Sokratis’ injury, the Englishman will hope to prove he deserves a shot at making the starting eleven now.

Alex Iwobi 7

Iwobi was unlucky not to play more of this game, as he was ready to come on right before Arsenal’s first goal. He then had to wait another 15 minutes when Lacazette put the Gunners into the lead, and changed Emery’s mind.

In his brief appearance the 22-year-old was lively and created a late chance, but by that point the game was more about securing the victory.

Danny Welbeck 7

Another brief appearance, but Welbeck could’ve scored late on if Özil had spotted his run. The Englishman completed all of his passes and saw a shot blocked, but again the game was pretty much over by the time he entered it.