Top four hopes shattered as a below par Arsenal allow Brighton to earn a share of the spoils and take a point back down to the South coast. A one all draw ends the Gunners' season at home in a very disappointing fashion. A spot in the Champions League next season relies solely on the Europa League now as the pressure intensifies on Emery's men.
In what was supposed to be a good spring afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, where we said goodbye to Aaron Ramsey, Petr Cech and Danny Welbeck, the players (and Emery) let the fans down, again. Not good enough from anyone at all and Brighton took full advantage of a woeful Arsenal display.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the opener from the spot early on in the first half after Nacho Monreal was brought down. He dispatched the spot kick expertly well but he and the other attackers never really got going. Down the other end, the defence were again all over the place. Even at one-nil down, Brighton were never out of the game. Arsenal continually allowed their hosts to threaten, and to stay in a game that was supposed to be all Arsenal. Half time came at one-nil still but there was very little to report in the way of exciting football.
Slack Arsenal play lead to another poor individual error as Granit Xhaka needlessly brought down Brighton's winger in the box. Penalty and one all. The Gunners never recovered from that although Aubameyang did miss a sitter mid way through the second half, that if converted, would have surely won the game. Sokratis' poor decision making again came to light as a stupid card for diving left him playing a big chunk of the game on a yellow. Ozil looked tired, Mustafi again looked off the pace, and Lichtsteiner just looked like a duck out of water, he is simply not good enough for this football club. Emery, the club and the board have some serious issues to address this summer, starting with the poor standard of our back up players. Plenty to do but let's just hope the season ends with a Europa League win.
Ratings
Unai Emery: 5
The Spaniard couldn't really be faulted for his starting XI, as after Thursday Koscielny clearly needed a rest. Beyond that, Maitland-Niles was suspended leaving Emery very little quality at right full back, and he started his best attacking trio, albeit in a different shape to the norm. Mkhitaryan again let his boss down with some woeful play, he looks completely out of form and as a result, useless. Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira weren't at their normal high intensity best so it left Emery with very little on the pitch. However, the options on his bench weren't game changers and that's really been the story of the season. Emery, on the other hand, hasn't given the likes of young Saka, Nketiah and Willock enough chances. It gets to a point where you'd question, can it get worse? At that point, it is where the kids need a chance. No it can't get worse than an out of form Mkhitaryan who can't complete a simple three yard pass nor an inconsistent Iwobi who trips over the ball whilst it's stationary having beaten the same man twice. Kids like Saka and Nketiah who create and score goals for fun, and are far too good for their own levels already, would have surely been better. Emery has never really given youth a real chance but with Reiss Nelson returning ahead of next season a more complete player, plus the hope of new arrivals, different attackers and more options should be the look come August.
Two (maybe three) games to go. Balls it up in Spain on Thursday and it could be jobs on the line but get to a Europa League final, and win it, could be a good solid first season at the club. A 5th place finish and a European trophy would be a fine start for Emery but it has to actually happen for it to materialise. Game on again.
Bernd Leno: 7
Stephan Lichtsteiner: 3
Shkodran Mustafi: 4
Sokratis: 3
Nacho Monreal: 6
Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 3
Granit Xhaka: 4.5
Lucas Torreira: 6
Mesut Ozil: 5
Alex Lacazette: 6
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 5.5
Subs
Matteo Guendouzi: 4.5
Alex Iwobi: 4.5
Sead Kolasinac: 5
Valencia Thursday is crunch time. Keep it tight, score a goal and it should be tie over and onto a European cup final, and a lifeline for next season's Champions League.
@craigbennett10
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