A new era began at Arsenal yesterday which saw Unai Emery take in charge of his first game after replacing Arsene Wenger who stepped down after 22 years in charge. Our first opponents in the League were probably the toughest in the Champions Manchester City.
There was sense of optimism coupled with excitement after a long time at the Emirates and among the fans. It was Emery’s first competitive lineup which included some surprises. 19 year old Guendouzi started with Cech on the back of their impressive pre-season form in place of Torreira & Leno who are still new. Rest was all expected as Maitland-Niles deputised at LB due to injury issues and Lacazette was benched in favour of Mkhitaryan.
We started the game with the brakes on and we look terrified of City’s prowess. We were very conscious at the beginning which saw our central midfielders Xhaka and Guendouzi give the ball away cheaply in the starting minutes. Then city scored at the 19 minute mark through sterling’s precise finished who used his speed and trickery well. Question marks can be raised on our midfield pair who failed to close him down, some even questioned Cech who could have done better. After conceding we became even more afraid of City for few minutes but then slowly calmed down and grew into the game towards the end of the first half. We had our chances towards the end but we weren’t decisive enough. We came out positively in the second half and looked lively. Our best spell came after Lacazette came on for Ramsey and we dominated for some 10 minutes until Bernardo Silva scored a class goal where our defence should have done better. Lacazette came on and made us look better along with some slick attacks. Torreira also had a good cameo where he looked sharp. We had our chances towards the end and even put the ball in the net two times only for it to be called offside. We could have drawn towards the end but we were not clinical enough & it was a confidence issue too. There were positives as well as negatives but Emery needs time in my opinion, he’s just come in & will need more time to reach the level that’s needed. Its our transition period so we’ll have to be patient. On to the ratings...
PLAYER RATINGS :
PETR CECH - 6.5
His saves were top notch & looked really sharp in the box but he’s never looked comfortable with the ball. Could have done better for the first goal. His distribution ain’t that good and if we are going to play out from the back starting with the GK, then Leno is our man.
Bellerin - 6
Not a bad game for bellerin but nothing fancy too. He looked good defensively but didn’t offer much in terms of attacking. He had a great chance where he could have done better in the first half.
Maitland-Niles - 4.5
Struggled badly as he was playing out of position at LB. Couldn’t cope up with Mahrez, Walker as city exploited our left flank. Was later substituted as he got injured for Lichtsteiner.
Mustafi - 7
I think he looked solid enough & his distribution was good too. Could have done better for the second goal but that is something we can say for whole of our defence.
Sokratis - 7
There were some question marks going into the game that he’s not good enough but he gave a commanding performance. Read the game well & made some good challenges. New partnership with Mustafi also looked good.
Guendouzi - 7
He made some mistakes but he was the only one who showed some drive from our midfield. Made some good tackles & passing was good at times. Promising signs but still a long way to go for the young frenchman.
Xhaka - 4
Struggled badly & looked out of pace. Passing was sluggish & was erratic at times too. He got his time to settle & now is the time to turn up as he is an experienced player. Only thing in his favour could be that he wasn’t fully fit but still needs to improve or he should be dropped.
Özil - 5.5
Worked hard but things didn’t work out for him in the game. Defensively he put in a shift but lacked sharpness offensively. Missed an easy chance towards the end and created one where we should have scored.
Mkhitaryan - 5.5
Looked off the pace & lethargic today but worked hard defensively specially in the first half. Needs to provide more while going forward or his place might be in trouble.
Ramsey - 6
Worked hard throughout but didn’t looked comfortable in that no10/false9 position. He should be starting as a central midfielder where all his attributes are better utilised.
Aubameyang - 6.5
Didn’t get the service he would have liked and had very less touches. Can do a lot better but needs the service too, looked better after Laca came on.
SUBSTITUTES-
Lichtsteiner- 6.5
Lacazette- 7
Torreira-7
All the 3 substitutes made an impact where they looked sharp. Torreira & Lacazette made us look better while Lichtsteiner looked assured defensively.
Thats all from my review & ratings. I hope you liked it . Thank you for reading. Your comments are all welcome.
COYG♥️💪
Tejasvi Bhandari ( @SaviAfc on Twitter)
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