Three points was all that would’ve been on Arsene Wenger’s mind despite receiving a weeks worth of abuse from the media and some supporters.
Following their horror week that saw losses to Watford and Chelsea consecutively, the Gunners are now sat outside looking in on the title race.
It was a gloomy day in North London as a number of supporters ditched the lunchtime kick-off in protest of the board’s continued backing of Wenger.
But with a Champions League date in Munich to look forward to, you could say many of these guys were treating this Hull City showdown as an audition.
Petr Cech – 6
A couple of impressive stops to deny Niasse during some nervy moments, but nothing to add fuel to the fire on Cech’s position as number one. Will be rotated with Ospina in mid-week.
Hector Bellerin – 7
A little bit off the pace but that’s understandable considering the nasty head injury he’s been recovering from all week. Professional, and did his job well. Sure to start against Bayern.
Shkodran Mustafi – 6
Caught out of position at times and can’t afford to make these mistakes again because he will get punished. However, looked more comfortable with Bellerin playing next to him.
Laurent Koscielny – 6.5
Work rate once again 110% and was committed when needed. A couple of times he got muddled up with Mustafi but nothing to persuade Wenger to change his centre back’s for mid-week.
Kieran Gibbs – 7
His sixth Premier League start of the season wasn’t too much of a polished performance, but it was nice to see something different on the left wing. Fast and played a good number of one-two’s with Ozil throughout the game. Wenger has a big decision to make.
Francis Coquelin – 4
Keep him well away from the side on Wednesday please. Nothing to suggest he’s controlled in that midfield position and still looks inexperienced when going forward. Xhaka will be desperate to replace this guy against Bayern. Coquelin played so many poor balls, had a shot that was worthy of Sunday League and constantly caught out of position.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 8 (MOTM)
I understand Alexis won us the game but this guy was pulling the strings in midfield all afternoon, often having to cover the back of Coquelin. He’s made a case for this being his regular role, and on a confidence basis he has to start next week.
Theo Walcott – 4.5
Looking back at the game I’m not really too sure what he managed to do. A few wrong decisions when going forward and failure to get the best out of his pace despite it being a fairly end to end game.
Mesut Ozil – 5
What seemed to be a frustrated performance from the German, something he’ll want to put right when he travels back to his home country. Failed to make an impact, but played a part in the first goal with a cut-back to Gibbs. Hard to see why he deserves to start on Wednesday.
Alex Iwobi – 6.5
Trying new things and not afraid to have a go at the defence. Certainly has a lot of work to do in his physical game and lost the ball too often. We need strength and reliability on Wednesday night, sadly Iwobi doesn’t carry those traits yet.
Alexis Sanchez – 8
Overall an average day for Alexis who kept knocking at the door. Bagged himself a brace thanks to a late penalty which moves him up to the summit of the Premier League’s top goalscorer charts. Bound to start vs. Bayern.
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