Arsenal bounced back from a disappointing defeat against West Ham United to beat Chelsea convincingly at the Emirates Stadium and keep their top four hopes alive.

Even in mid-January, this was a must-win game for Arsenal. A defeat would’ve left them nine points behind Chelsea, three points behind Manchester United and a potential 10 points behind Tottenham Hotspur (depending on Sunday’s result). Even with a few months to go, overtaking two of those teams would be a massive task.

The players seemed to understand the importance of the game, putting in one of their best team performances of the season. Scoring twice in the first half, Arsenal then managed to grind out the victory in the second, without ever really looking like throwing it away.

It was one of Arsenal’s hardest-earned results, with the team covering more ground (121.7km) than in any single match since Opta started tracking the stat in 2013/14.

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

Goalkeeper and Defence

Bernd Leno 7

Leno finally kept a clean sheet, after a relatively unfortunate run of six league games without one. However, most of the work was done by the players in front of him. The goalkeeper only had to make one save, and sweep up one or two through balls. Other than that, it was a quiet game.

Hector Bellerin 8.5

Making his first start after a calf strain, Bellerin was excellent all over the pitch. He dribbled past opponents with ease, won six out of his seven individual duels and won a couple of good tackles as well. To top it all off, he provided the assist for Alexandre Lacazette’s opening goal.

Then it all went wrong, as he suffered an injury that forced him off the pitch on a stretcher. There are plenty of theories flying around about the nature of the injury, from ligament injuries to torn quad tendons. It looks like a few months out, regardless of the result.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos 8.5

Sokratis won all of his attempted tackles and six of his nine duels as he formed a formidable partnership with Koscielny on the night. The duo’s performance was rather bizarrely capped off as the Greek defender provided the assist for the Frenchman’s goal.

Arsenal’s 30-year-old summer signing continues to the team’s most consistent defensive presence, for whatever that’s worth.

Laurent Koscielny 9

Koscielny had his best game since returning from injury, and a performance that earned him the official man-of-the-match award. He made a massive 13 clearances and three interceptions, winning the only tackle he attempted and blocking a goal-bound shot in painful-looking fashion.

The centre-back also provided an aerial threat at the other end, getting clear of Chelsea’s defence on two occasions. The first time, he headed the ball powerfully but straight at Kepa Arrizabalaga. The second, he got a bit lucky, with the ball coming off his shoulder and looping into the goal. He’d earned that luck with a captain’s performance.

Sead Kolasinac 8

Like the rest of the defence, Kolasinac certainly had plenty of good moments, with one or two crunching tackles catching the eye. His passing was a bit off though, with the lowest accuracy of any defender by a very long way (66% vs 84, 92, 84 and 100%).

In his defence, that was partly because the 25-year-old got forward and took offensive risks so often. That resulted in a couple of chances created, jointly leading the team in that regard alongside Granit Xhaka.

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Midfield

Lucas Torreira 8.5

Torreira put in one of his best Arsenal performances without the ball. He made nine tackles, more than double the figure any Chelsea player managed and all-but-one Arsenal player too. He won 12 out of 17 duels, and his performance would’ve looked even better if the referee didn’t keep waving away clear fouls on him.

The Uruguayan’s pass accuracy wasn’t so impressive, as he took a lot of positive risks, but it’s really more important he gets the defensive work right anyway.

Granit Xhaka 8.5

As he so often does, Xhaka led the team in possession. He created a couple of chances and completed seven long balls, more than any other outfield player for Arsenal. He also made six clearances, three tackles and interceptions and won the majority of his duels. The Swiss midfielder always looks more comfortable when Torreira is around.

Matteo Guendouzi 8

Guendouzi came in for some stick after his performance against West Ham, but the teenager bounced back well with a very solid showing on Saturday. Only Torreira made more tackles than his five, and no one made more interceptions, as the Frenchman executed his defensive duties well.

The midfielder’s passing was solid enough, though he left most of the more creative work in possession to his teammates on this occasion.

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Forwards

Aaron Ramsey 9

Ramsey was given a specific task by Unai Emery, and he executed the gameplan excellently. His job was to man-mark Jorginho and shut down Chelsea’s main man in their build-up play, which he did without any problems.

The Welshman also added to Arsenal’s offensive threat, and the two strikers ahead of him certainly benefitted from his presence. However, his main job was to stop Jorginho, and he did so almost faultlessly.

Alexandre Lacazette 8.5

Lacazette’s goal was top class. He could easily have gone down after Pedro snapped at his ankles in the box, but instead, he stayed on his feet and fired into the net from the tightest of angles. Mohamed Salah and Harry Kane could learn a thing or two from that piece of play.

The striker also made a few interceptions and clearances, putting in a shift like everyone else on the team.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 8

Aubameyang almost scored one of the goals of Arsenal’s season so far, but his overhead kick flew just wide. The striker worked really hard for the team, making three fantastic tackles. He perhaps could’ve done better with one shot in the first half, and he struggled a bit to link up with his teammates, especially when Lacazette went off.

Nonetheless, he put the effort in and did his job, and he was a threat despite his limited touches.

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Substitutes

Ainsley Maitland-Niles 7.5

Maitland-Niles made a couple of tackles and a didn’t misplace any of the few passes he attempted after coming on. He did accidentally walk the ball off the pitch at one point, but he otherwise filled in for Bellerin pretty well. He’s going to have to get used to that job after the Spaniard’s injury.

Alex Iwobi 7

Iwobi wasn’t very involved in the final half an hour, but he did create one chance and make one tackle, so his rare contributions were positive ones.

Mohamed Elneny 7.5

Like Iwobi, Elneny also created a late chance for a goal, but he was also a bit more involved in the general play, coming on in midfield. Considering he’s only played 59 minutes of league football all season, it’s good to see the 26-year-old is still ready to help out when called upon.