Arsenal got the win they needed to progress against Blackpool on Wednesday night, but it ended up being harder work than it could’ve been thanks to Matteo Guendouzi’s red card.

Arsenal never looked in much trouble before the 58th minute. For the first time in a long time, they had a lead at the half-time break, and they doubled it early on in the second half. Just when it seemed they’d breeze through to the quarter-finals, Guendouzi picked up a very soft second yellow and Blackpool pulled a goal back.

Thankfully, the team then dug in and got the win, with Blackpool also picking up a red card in the final minutes.

Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the match.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Petr Cech 5.5

This should’ve been a relatively straight-forward game for Cech, but he wasn’t as confident in the air as usual, and almost gifted Blackpool an equaliser trying a Cruyff turn in his own box. Fortunately, he got lucky that Nathan Delfouneso was offside.

Cech will need to make a more convincing case to reclaim the Premier League spot from Bernd Leno in his next game.

Stephan Lichtsteiner 7.5

Lichtsteiner finally seems to be finding his feet in an Arsenal shirt. He took his goal nicely, and he looked much more comfortable out there than he has in much of the early part of the campaign. He didn’t have too much to do defensively on this occasion though.

Shkodran Mustafi 6.5

Generally, this was a decent performance, certainly better than the one against Crystal Palace. Once again though, he could’ve done much more for the goal Arsenal conceded. Like Cech, Mustafi might have a fight on his hands to get back into the starting XI now, with Holding and Sokratis seemingly set to take his place against Liverpool.

Julio Pleguezuelo 7.5

A very solid debut from the 21-year-old, more than five years in the making. He was composed on the ball, defended well, and even made one or two of his trademark marauding runs forward when space opened up for him. He had to deal with increased pressure with Arsenal going down to 10 men and did so without major trouble.

Carl Jenkinson 7

Jenkinson was making his first start at Arsenal for nearly two years, out of position, so he did very well under the circumstances. He made a lot of forward runs to support the attack, one of which led to Smith Rowe’s goal. Like Lichtsteiner, he didn’t have too much to do defensively, as Blackpool didn’t use the wings a whole lot.

Click ‘Next’ for the midfield, forwards and substitutes

Midfield

Matteo Guendouzi 7

Guendouzi was probably Arsenal’s best performer before his second yellow. He set up the opening goal, and every time a defender picked up the ball they just looked to give it to him to move it forward.

Unfortunately, he was then sent off, rather harshly. Both yellows were very soft, but he shouldn’t have taken the risk of picking up a second.

Aaron Ramsey 6

Ramsey was never particularly effective in this one. He had one big chance in the first half, but it fell to his weak foot and he lifted it well over the bar. The midfielder did make some nice runs, he just didn’t do anything with them.

Emile Smith Rowe 7.5

Smith Rowe took his goal nicely, his first senior goal at the Emirates Stadium. He always looked lively, though he couldn’t create as much as in some of his other Arsenal showings for the academy and the first team. Nonetheless, he’s making a very strong start to his young Gunners career.

Click ‘Next’ for the forwards and substitutes

Forwards

Ainsley Maitland-Niles 6.5

It was rather surprising to see Maitland-Niles playing in the front three. He did do the same for the academy recently, as he built up his fitness after his fracture. Still, you’d have thought Emery would play Smith Rowe or even Nketiah as a forward before resorting to someone who has never really played the position before.

The midfielder didn’t do too badly under the circumstances, but he was sacrificed early on after the red card.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan 6

A pretty average performance from the 29-year-old. His best moment was one run in behind the defence that almost led to a goal, but he couldn’t quite get the ball under control and fired just wide. The rest of his performance was barely worth mentioning.

Danny Welbeck 6

Like Mkhitaryan, Welbeck hardly had any moments worth talking about. In the striker’s case, you can probably excuse him a bit, considering how little was actually created for him. It wasn’t a surprise to see him brought off with 15 minutes to go.

Click ‘Next’ for the substitutes

Substitutes

Lucas Torreira 7

Torreira was introduced to help Arsenal grind out a win after the Guendouzi red card, and he did enough to achieve that goal. Not a particularly spectacular performance but he filled in effectively.

Alex Iwobi 6.5

Iwobi didn’t have too much to do after coming on, but he did a decent job of slowing the game down and keeping possession rather than swinging the ball into the box and inviting Blackpool counters.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 6.5

Aubameyang’s reputation goes before him now, as the Premier League’s top scorer. Blackpool were so scared of him getting away on a counter that they hacked him down and took a red card instead. Alternatively, perhaps Paudie O’Connor is just a Liverpool fan.

The striker didn’t get much more service than Welbeck, but with good reason, as Arsenal killed the game.