Lucas Torreira scored a bicycle kick to win Arsenal all three points against Huddersfield Town on Saturday, as Unai Emery’s side managed to grind out a 1-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium.
This game was more notable for its penalty appeals, injuries and yellow or red card offences than for decent chances.
Both sides struggled to create anything at all, mostly because they spent so much time injuring, fouling and diving. That’s according to the referee, at least, who was keen to stop the game and issue cards for simulation at every opportunity.
Thankfully, Arsenal’s newest hero Lucas Torreira popped up in the final minutes to win the game. Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the match:
1Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs
Bernd Leno 6.5
It’s hard to give Leno a proper review because he didn’t have anything to do all game. He had no saves to make, nor any high claims. He made one decent punch, and his distribution was good as usual.
Shkodran Mustafi 7
Mustafi adapted pretty well to the two different systems he had to play, and he had a pretty solid game. He wasn’t really tested too often though.
At the other end, Mustafi picked up a controversial yellow card after the referee turned down his penalty appeal and booked him for diving. That was particularly disappointing as it rules the German out of the next game with a suspension. It may not have mattered anyway, as the defender picked up an injury in the second half.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos 8
Sokratis had a very good game, bar one risky shoulder barge in the box late on. Like Mustafi, the centre-back had to adapt to playing in two different positions: First, central in a back three, then as the left-centre-back in a back four for the second half.
The Greek international was certainly most impressive in the opening period and Arsenal did struggle to play out at times without Rob Holding on the left. Nonetheless, Sokratis was excellent at limiting Huddersfield to so few chances. It’s a shame he also picked up a yellow and will be suspended for the next league game too.
Stephan Lichtsteiner 6.5
Like Sokratis on the left, Lichtsteiner wasn’t quite as effective at playing out from the back as other right-sided centre-backs have been. He was solid enough defensively but with his two teammates picking up suspensions and the system not really working, it made perfect sense for Emery to take him off at half-time and avoid another injury.
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