Arsenal made a winning start to their Premier League campaign and in emphatic style.
The Gunners looked slightly shaky in the first five minutes, but quickly put that to the back of their minds when Alexandre Lacazette bundled in the opener nine minutes in.
Arsenal then grew into the game and were dominant in the second half. One debutant found another when Willian corner was met by Gabriel’s shoulder to double Arsenal’s lead. Then the game was rounded off when Aubameyang finished off an excellent Arsenal team goal.
Bernd Leno – 8
The pressure was very much on Leno when it was announced that Emiliano Martinez was not going to be in the squad. Leno is clearly the manager’s number one now and he didn’t put a foot wrong today.
Rob Holding – 8
Gabriel Magalhaes – 9
Miscommunication between him and Leno in the opening minutes but then after that Gabriel was extremely impressive. Won plenty of headers and many duels. Capped his debut off with a goal.
Kieran Tierney – 8
Hector Bellerin – 8
Mohammed Elneny – 8
Granit Xhaka – 8
Ainsley Maitland-Niles 8
Willian – 9
Some were surprised to see Willian start, with Saka and Pepe to compete with him on that right wing, but the Brazilian worked hard and was involved in all three goals, with two assists and the opener being scored because his shot was parried.
Alexandre Lacazette – 7
Lacazette tapped home the opener to settle Arsenal’s nerves. After that he had a good but not great game, with lots of things he tried not coming off.
Aubameyang – 8
Scored an excellent goal but will be slightly disappointed not to have got at least one more from the chances he had.
Subs
Nicolas Pepe – N/A
Dani Ceballos – N/A
Eddie Nketiah – N/A