Arsenal defeated Brentford 3-1 to progress to the next round of the League Cup on Wednesday, in a game that was a lot closer than the first-half suggested it would be.
Arsenal came out of the traps quickly at the start of the match, and took the lead in the first five minutes. For the remainder of the half the Gunners dominated, and scored a second before the break.
When the two teams came back out though, Brentford looked like they had nothing to lose, and really put Unai Emery’s team under pressure. Fortunately Arsenal maintained a 2-1 lead until the 93rd minute, when Alexandre Lacazette killed the game with a third.
Let’s have a look at how the players did individually.
4Alex Iwobi 8
Another great performance from the 22-year-old. Iwobi had the Brentford right-back, Odubajo, on toast for much of the match. It was no surprise to see the Brentford boss choosing to take the defender off with his first substution.
Iwobi pressed well, winning the ball back and forcing mistakes, and his work on the wing was very good. He won the corner for the opening goal, then played Monreal in behind to set up Welbeck for the second. An impressive showing.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan 6.5
Mkhitaryan had one or two good moments, in particular his work in the second goal. However, in general this wasn’t his day, and he lost the ball far too often. In the end he came off early for Torreira.
Danny Welbeck 8.5
Welbeck all but killed this tie off in the first half, with a quality header in the first five minutes, and a tap in after getting in the perfect spot for a Monreal cut-back. The Englishman looked a danger all game, particularly in the air. Emery praised the forward’s ‘quality’ and ‘commitment’ afterwards, two things you could never doubt in this showing.
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