Arsenal played out a comfortable but lacklustre 1-0 victory over Qarabag on Thursday, in the dead rubber game at the end of the Europa League group stage.
Neither team had anything to play for in midweek, with Arsenal already qualified for the knockout stages as group winners and Qarabag already out of the competition. However, there was still pride on the line, the chance to keep Unai Emery’s unbeaten run going, and an opportunity for some young/returning players to impress.
Alexandre Lacazette gave the team an early lead, and it remained 1-0 for the rest of the 90 minutes. Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the performance.
4Substitutes
Zech Medley 7.5
Medley came on at left-back, a bit of an unfamiliar position for him, considering he usually plays in the centre of defence. The 6’4″ 18-year-old still got a chance to showcase his fantastic passing range with a couple of long crossfield balls, and he brought the ball forward nicely as well.
Nacho Monreal 7
Monreal came on at centre-back with 18 minutes to go, but Qarabag were still offering little more offensive threat than throughout the rest of the game. The Spaniard’s introduction was really just to give Koscielny a break. He made one tackle, and a number of passes, but wasn’t really tested.
Charlie Gilmour 7
It was just a cameo appearance at the end of the game for Gilmour, and he had no trouble fitting into a largely academy-based team by that stage. He completed all six of his attempted passes in the final minutes.