Can the Real Arsenal LB please stand up? Monreal had to take a seat on the sidelines with an injury as Kieran Gibbs starred in a 2-1 at away victory at Loftus Road.
WhoScored Rating – 9.21
A splendid performance from the English defender as he helped The Gunners secure a second straight away win in the league. Kieran won 7 Aerial duels, in which only teammate Gabriel had more (8). Gabriel only played 36 minutes after coming off with an injury, the Brazilian also made 2 less clearances than Gibbs, who made 14 as Arsenal saw the win out despite a Charlie Austin goal putting the three points at risk. He made 7 interceptions, no player had more in the game. (Steven Caulker also had 7.)
Gibbo getting stuck in out on the left hand side made 4 tackles. From the 49 passes made he got a reasonable pass accuracy of 65.3%. His average is 81.3% in the league this season so this isn’t one of his finest games when it comes to the art of passing.
His offensive contribution has been his strong points this season and he created two chances for his teammates, including an assist (69′) to Sanchez which despite counting as an official “assist”, the way it happened would suggest it was all Sanchez. He also played the ball into Giroud, and with the pace taken off it by a nearby defender, made it easy for Giroud to thump it home. Attempted 6 crosses in the game with the one successful cross. He completed both his take-ons against the likes of Darnell Furlong (50′) and Charlie Austin (12′).
Many weren’t too happy with the idea of Kieran Gibbs coming into the side as a result of Monreal’s absence but his performance today and previously suggest the left-back position is not an area to worry about regardless of whether the player holding the role’s jersey is #3 or the infamous #18.