Arsenal managed to grind out a victory over Cardiff City on Tuesday night, but it wasn’t as easy as it should’ve been for Unai Emery’s side.

Arsenal really struggled in the first half of their Premier League clash, and either team could have been in the lead at the break. Though things did improve after that, with a change in formation and the introduction of a couple of substitutes, it still wasn’t vintage Arsenal in the second half either.

Nonetheless, The Gunners got the job done, scoring twice before Cardiff pulled one back with a very late consolation goal.

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

Goalkeeper and Defence

Bernd Leno 7

Leno’s distribution was very good, and he showed more press resistance than many of the players ahead of him at times. The German only had to make one save before injury time, at which point Nathaniel Mendez-Laing scored a very nice goal past him. There wasn’t much the Arsenal goalkeeper could do about that one though.

Stephan Lichtsteiner 5

Lichtsteiner is still struggling to make a case for himself as Arsenal’s first-choice right-back, despite Hector Bellerin’s injury.

The 35-year-old didn’t make any tackles, interceptions or create any chances, so his impact on the game was minimal at best. None of his crosses found their targets, and he only won one of his eight duels.

On the other side, Lichtsteiner’s passing was generally accurate and he did make one clearance and block one shot nicely. Still, it was no surprise to see the right-back taken off with half an hour to go.

Shkodran Mustafi 8

Mustafi had a pretty busy performance, with no one on the team making more tackles, more clearances or more aerial duels than him. A couple of those tackles were very well-timed slides in the box, which are fine when they actually come off. The centre-back also won the majority of his duels.

The 26-year-old remains an inconsistent and confusing defender, but this was one of his good games.

Nacho Monreal 7

Monreal wasn’t quite as impressive off the ball as Mustafi, but he was very good on it. He got a bit ambitious at times, racing forwards to help the attack, but it wasn’t a big deal as Arsenal had three midfielders to help fill in.

Nonetheless, it was generally a pretty solid performance from the Spaniard. Although it felt like Cardiff were getting opportunities, they ended the game with 0.87 xG and zero big chances, so Arsenal did well enough defensively. You just worry about this pairing against a top attack like Manchester City’s.

Sead Kolasinac 8

Kolasinac had another good game, as he continues his run in the side as Arsenal’s first choice left-back. He won all of his attempted tackles, made a couple of interceptions and five clearances.

However, the Bosnian’s best moment of the match came in the opposition penalty area. He raced onto an Alex Iwobi through-ball, getting to it just before the Cardiff player and winning a penalty for The Gunners. Somehow, the left-back remains one of the team’s most influential players offensively.

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Midfield

Lucas Torreira 7

Torreira recovered the ball excellently on a number of occasions, particularly in the second half, keeping Arsenal on the ball and the pressure on Cardiff. At his best, that’s exactly what the Uruguayan is in the team to do. He was effective in possession and made a couple of good runs forward, but he never looked likely to create a goal.

Mohamed Elneny 5

Elneny was taken off at half-time, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Though the midfielder did make a few good tackles, he never looked like breaking Cardiff down, and he held up a number of good counter-attacks simply by being too slow in possession.

The best chance Elneny created in his 45 minutes on the pitch was when he accidentally lobbed Monreal to send a Cardiff player through on goal. It was also the only chance he created.

Matteo Guendouzi 8.5

Guendouzi’s best work came in the second half, but he was one of few who didn’t underperform in the opening period either. The Frenchman’s range of passes was excellent as always, and he created a couple of good chances.

Spending far more time on the ball than any of his teammates, the 19-year-old shouldered the extra responsibility very well.

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Forwards

Mesut Özil 7.5

Alexandre Lacazette 9

Lacazette put in another excellent team performance and kept his good run of goal contributions going. The Frenchman has now scored or assisted in six of his last seven starts. On this occasion, he got his goal despite letting Aubameyang take Arsenal’s penalty.

The 27-year-old killed the game with his clinical finish in the 83rd minute, taking advantage of the fact he wasn’t subbed off, for once.

The striker also created a couple of chances and should have had at least one penalty. The first time, he stayed on his feet and Mike Dean waved the appeal away. The second time, he went down and Mike Dean waved it away. It’s hard to blame Lacazette anymore, considering he doesn’t get the decision regardless of what he does.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 7.5

Aubameyang’s overall performance was decent, but it was made to look better than it was thanks to a goal and an assist he was a little lucky to get. The goal was from the penalty spot, and it was confidently taken. The assist was a short pass around the halfway line where Lacazette did all the work to beat a couple of players and score.

The striker could have scored another but for a very good save by Cardiff goalkeeper Neil Etheridge. Still, it seems he’s lacking a bit of confidence in one-on-one opportunities at the moment. Hopefully, he scores one at the weekend and gets back to his best.

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Substitutes

Alex Iwobi 8

Iwobi came on for the second half and had exactly the impact he needed to have. His pass to Kolasinac to win the penalty was probably the pass of the match, and it changed the whole dynamic of the game. Other than that, he didn’t do too much of note.

Carl Jenkinson 7

Jenkinson was solid after coming on, which made him a big improvement on Lichtsteiner. He played one or two lazy passes, presumably as a result of the fact this was his first Premier League game of the season. Still, the 26-year-old made more tackles than the man he was replacing in significantly fewer minutes, and he worked hard for the team.

Aaron Ramsey 7

Ramsey had a typically energetic cameo appearance, creating one chance and having a couple of shots of his own. He should have scored a header after being well set up by Lacazette.