Arsenal had to fight hard for their 11th consecutive win on Thursday night, but they managed to grind out a 1-0 victory in the end.
In arguably the most difficult fixture of Arsenal’s Europa League group stage, they travelled to Lisbon to face Sporting at the Estádio José Alvalade. The hosts hadn’t lost at the stadium for over a year, and Arsenal weren’t at full strength, with injuries and two Premier League games in close proximity affecting the clash.
As a result, it wasn’t the best performance we’ve seen from the team this season, but they got the job done.
Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings.
2Midfield
Mohamed Elneny 6.5
Elneny continues to struggle when asked to provide more for the team creatively. He does a solid enough job defensively but doesn’t appear to have any ambition to find a pass through the lines or to set a winger/full-back free.
That’s a problem, as Guendouzi, Xhaka and Torreira can all do a similarly good job off the ball whilst offering more on it as well. It was no surprise to see the Egyptian taken off first when Arsenal needed a second-half goal.
Matteo Guendouzi 8
In general, this was another good showing from Guendouzi. If I had one criticism, it’s that he sometimes takes an extra touch that he doesn’t need, which led to him being dispossessed as much as anybody else in Thursday’s match.
In his defence, he also had more possession than anybody else, making great use of it with 93% pass accuracy and a couple of chances created. The Frenchman’s long balls were particularly impressive, with eight out of 10 finding their target.
Aaron Ramsey 7
Ramsey had a bit of a frustrating game, where he generally did pretty well but could’ve made so much more of a few positions. He did create three chances, they just weren’t as dangerous as the ones he could’ve made if he’d shown greater awareness of his surroundings. Like Guendouzi, he was also dispossessed too often.