Arsenal put in a stylish performance against Fulham on Sunday to breeze to a ninth consecutive win, with strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in top form.

The Gunners ran out 5-1 winners at Craven Cottage, despite once again going into the half-time break on level terms. Unai Emery’s side are making a habit of breaking teams down in the second half and this was no exception.

It took a couple of moments of brilliance from Lacazette to help the team to take control of the game. In the end, though, it was a very deserved win. Emery’s substitutions had exactly the desired impact and Arsenal earned the three points.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Bernd Leno 8

There was nothing Leno could do about the goal, but he saved everything else and came off his line quickly when required. As always, he looked comfortable building from the back and inspired confidence in the defenders in front of him. Another good performance on his first Premier League start.

Hector Bellerin 7.5

Bellerin’s match was a tale of two halves. He came in for a bit of criticism in the opening period as he struggled to impose himself at either end. After that, he turned things on in the second half, looked solid defensively and got an assist to top things off.

Shkodran Mustafi 7

Mustafi and Holding were both caught out for Fulham’s goal, allowing Schurrle to sneak in between them. Other than that, they both did their defensive jobs well enough, but Mustafi really had an off-day with his passing, as the only Arsenal defender to complete less than 70% of his attempts to find a teammate.

Rob Holding 7.5

Holding didn’t have that same problem, as the defender with the highest pass accuracy on the Arsenal team. Again, he needed to do better for the goal. Otherwise, a solid display.

Nacho Monreal 7

At half-time, we’d already seen the best and the worst of Monreal. A great assist for Lacazette after getting forward well, followed by giving the ball away and letting Fulham in to score. Thankfully, he tightened things up in the second half at the back.

Midfield

Lucas Torreira 9

It’s no surprise the Arsenal fans were chanting the Uruguayan’s name throughout this match, as he was excellent. He made six interceptions, the most by an Arsenal player in any Premier League game this season. Add to that a couple of tackles, both successful, and he even won all his aerials.

Only Xhaka bettered his pass accuracy from the team that started the match. Top class stuff.

Granit Xhaka 8

Xhaka made even more tackles, clearances and passes than his midfield partner, though he couldn’t touch Torreira’s interception count. The only downside to his performance was getting caught on the ball a couple of times. Thankfully, with Torreira around, that doesn’t matter so much.

Alex Iwobi 8.5

Iwobi is turning into a very exciting player going forward. He’s so confident taking players on nowadays, and he knows when to lay the ball off for a teammate. Arsenal reaped the rewards of having the Nigeria international back in the Premier League team, and he was heavily involved in their first goal.

Iwobi ended up coming off midway through the second half for a well-earned rest, after his impressive exploits in midweek as well.

Forwards

Henrikh Mkhitaryan 7.5

Mkhitaryan had one of those performances where he kept things ticking without ever really stealing the show. His work in the build-up to Ramsey’s goal was good, and he could’ve had a goal of his own if Aubameyang had managed to set him clear late on.

The Armenian will be a bit disappointed not to have done more with his three shots, but overall he did well enough to just take a back seat and let his teammates thrive.

Danny Welbeck 8

Welbeck did well alongside Lacazette, creating more chances than any other player, one of which resulted in the Frenchman’s second goal. It goes without saying that he pressed Fulham well and won the ball back on multiple occasions. That energy is standard from the Englishman. He was the first to come off in the second half, after a tiring week.

Alexandre Lacazette 9

Lacazette is proving an absolutely top quality striker. After he had to settle for assists against Watford and his substitute appearance against Qarabag, this time he got back in the goals himself with two fantastic finishes.

The first was all about his first touch, bringing the ball under control for a shot on the spin. The second was just a perfectly placed power shot from outside the box. Like Welbeck, Lacazette also harried the Fulham defenders whenever he could and showed great strength throughout.

Substitutes

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 9

It’s hard to argue with two goals and an assist from only a bit over 20 minutes on the pitch. Aubameyang was as clinical as it gets, effectively killing off the game. Iwobi and Welbeck had earned starts over the Gabon international, but he bounced back in style.

Aaron Ramsey 8.5

Ramsey was another whose recent performances meant he was deservedly on the bench from the start. Like Aubameyang, he just used that as motivation.

It took less than a minute for the Welshman to find the net, finishing off a beautiful move from the Gunners. After being assisted for that goal by Aubameyang, he returned the favour late on for Arsenal’s fifth. Much better from the man surrounded by contract speculation.

Matteo Guendouzi 7.5

Guendouzi didn’t have as much time to make an impact, but he hardly got anything wrong in his 10 minutes on the pitch. The Frenchman might have to settle for a bench role in the league, with Xhaka and Torreira working well together, but he’ll keep getting chances in the cups and in Europe I’m sure.

As long as Guendouzi keeps making these positive substitute appearances, Arsenal will greatly benefit from having all three players.