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.
2Midfield
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.