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:
2Midfield
Matteo Guendouzi 8
On the ball, Guendouzi was impressive, creating five chances and completing 94% of his passes. It was his ball in at the end which led to the winning goal. Arsenal’s problem’s in possession were more to do with the three midfielders not complementing each other particularly well, rather than any individual poor performances or mistakes.
Defensively Guendouzi didn’t have as much impact on the game, with Xhaka and Torreira having to pick up the slack. That wasn’t a major problem though.
Granit Xhaka 8.5
Xhaka had an all-action performance against Huddersfield, winning a huge seven aerials, making five tackles and six clearances, as well as one interception. He also had over 10% of the game’s possession on his own, creating a couple of chances and playing some really nice passes.
It was a captain’s performance, and the only blot on his copybook was the couple of times he decided to shoot from impossible range.
Lucas Torreira 8.5
Torreira didn’t quite have the overall performance Xhaka did, but that’s not to say he wasn’t as solid as usual. Then he boosted his individual rating at the end by stepping up in a big way to score the winner. It was a fantastic bicycle kick from a pretty unlikely source and another day in which he’s endeared himself to the Emirates crowd.
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