Arsenal never really had to hit top gear to beat Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Monday night, though they left it late to secure the victory in the end.
Aaron Ramsey gave the Gunners the lead twice in the first half, with his first effort disallowed for a foul by Sokratis Papastathopoulos. Arsenal just couldn’t find that second goal to kill the game, even though their opponents barely had a chance to speak of throughout the match.
Eventually, with less than 10 minutes to go, Alexandre Lacazette executed an inch-perfect chip to make it 2-0. The striker then scored another disallowed goal, and this one was extremely harshly ruled out. Nonetheless, 2-0 was enough to secure the three points and move up into third place in the table.
Let’s have a look at our individual player ratings for the match.
Substitutes
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 8
There’s no doubt that Aubameyang is always that little bit more effective when he’s coming on against tired legs. In this case, it wasn’t a tactical decision to start him on the bench, but one Unai Emery was forced into as the forward had a temperature pre-game.
The Gunners’ leading scorer didn’t seem to have any problems after coming on though, assisting Lacazette’s goal and making a number of dangerous runs down the wings. He also went close with a shot after running in behind, set up by Özil.
Mohamed Elneny 7
Elneny pretty much did what he always does, winning the ball back once or twice but mostly just helping Arsenal keep possession in midfield. He did make one particularly poor pass straight to a Newcastle player after coming on, but it would be fair enough if he was a bit rusty after his limited game time this season. Otherwise, he was solid.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan 7
Mkhitaryan just made a brief cameo appearance for the final 6 minutes of the match, but it was a positive few moments as he completed all nine of his attempted passes. He’s sure to get more game time in the coming weeks, with a very busy schedule ahead.