Arsenal managed a comfortable 3-0 win over Stoke City on Sunday afternoon, with many of the Arsenal players impressive over the course of the 90 minutes.
The Gunners took the lead just six minutes in when Alexis Sanchez carved out a beautiful cross for Laurent Koscielny who confidently nodded the Gunners ahead. Not long after that Alexis went on a superb mazy run into the Stoke box and finished superbly. Alexis then squeezed in a free kick early in the second half to end the game as a contest. Here’s how I rated the players today. Don’t agree? Rate them yourself here.
David Ospina: 7
Ospina had very little to do as Stoke failed to create any real chances on goal. The Colombian had some work to do late on and made a couple of good saves to ensure he managed a clean sheet on his Premier League bow.
Mathieu Debuchy (off 13): 6
Substituted after 13 minutes due to injury.
Per Mertesacker: 7
Mertesacker has looked suspect this season and has quite rightly come under a lot of criticism. Today though, he had a comfortable game in defence, a lot better than the last time we played against Stoke..
Laurent Koscielny- 8.5
Koscielny was incredible is this game. Even though Stoke rarely threatened on the attack, Koscielny didn’t give them a sniff. Hopefully his injury troubles are behind him now. We really need him in defence.
Nacho Monreal: 7
The Spaniard is fast becoming one of the most reliable defenders in the Arsenal squad. Having adjusted to a centre back role, he was back at left back today and had no problems – but looked good going forward.
Francis Coquelin-Â 8
Coquelin had a good game in the deep, protective midfield role – AGAIN! Whilst no fan thinks he should be a regular starter for us, until we buy a top class defensive midfielder, he should be. Coquelin did his job and made sure Arsenal weren’t intimidated in midfield.
Santi Cazorla: 7
Santi was a bit more quiet than normal today, but did nothing wrong. He was still brilliant in possession and helped the Gunners dominate the game from beginning ’til end.
Tomas Rosicky: 7
Rosicky was his usual self today, quiet and classy. A lot of his work goes unnoticed but his elegant passing and drive on the ball makes him a great asset to the team. Gave the ball away a bit but his drive going forward is so useful.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (off 68): 7.5
Chamberlain was excellent. He managed 9 take ons today and with Walcott still not back to his best, you can expect Chamberlain to start again against Manchester City.
Olivier Giroud (off 73): 6
Giroud had a very quiet game. He had a good shot saved by Begovic early on, but was removed after 73 minutes after failing to make a significant impact on proceedings.
Alexis Sanchez: 9
Outstanding work rate, hunger, desire and once again the driving force behind the team. Scored two brilliant goals and assisted the other with an incredible cross. Running out of superlatives for him.
Substitutes:
Hector Bellerin (on 13): 7
Bellerin wouldn’t have been expecting to play today, but he did and he did so with great maturity.
Theo Walcott (on 68): 5
Still looks rusty in front of goal.
Mesut Ozil (on 73): 6
The German returned after three months out and looks like he spent a lot of that time in the gym. A good few touches and nice to see him back.