Arsenal came from behind to draw 1-1 with Liverpool thanks to Alexandre Lacazette’s cracking equaliser.
Read the report and see the goals here.
Ratings
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Decent first half, both teams should have scored.
The Terrier and Xhaka were great. As were LMAO our upfront beauties. And Iwobi when he came on.
Fair result, we matched them at least. Gives us confidence things are moving in the right direction.
I thought nobody up front performed particularly well, either for us or Liverpool.
Laca is the only one worth a shout.
Shout out to Kolasinac. First game back and he looked the part. They Sead you’re done but I still believe.
Did someone notice that again and again how Ramsey always gets positional conflict with his own teammates?
The overall team performance was solid. The atmosphere at emirates was electric. Loved every minute of it.
Bit harsh on Mkhi
Welbeck really put himself about when he came on. And we scored about 2 mins after he came on. Genius substitution
Yeah, but the goal was all about a well weighted Iwobi assist and a Lacazette curler. That was such a composed finish.
@Jack, indeed! Welbz served as a perfect pass-decoy for Laca to make his incredible strike.
X-factor, unpredictable, physical, up for whatever needs doing. Not hard to see why he was a Wenger favorite. Re-sign!
Only city are clearly better than us. Everyone else, game fucking on.
Ya I agree. But at this rate we will reach city level soon. Plus those people have spent money like crazy. It’s not so difficult if you spend money like that. But in the second leg I feel we will surprise them.
This is exactly right. Exciting times! Could have grabbed a win yesterday with our midfield control.
Hungry now to smash Utd and the Toilet Seats next month. With EL out of the way by then and after some manageable fixtures, we should be ready.
I think blogs has been far too generous with Mki.
time and time again he lost possession or failed to look up for options. He’s clearly lacking in confidence but should have been withdrawn for Iwobi a lot earlier
Blogs,
Far too hard on a few players. I know you have rightly pointed out our defensive weakness and need for improvement, however it’s starting to become a bit of a fixation.
The progression on and off the ball is really becoming apparent. This is a team going places, even with all the flaws.
Time to see the sunshine a bit eh.
You give our goal scorer a 6? Ouch…that’s harsh. Lacazette worked his ass off all match against Van Dijk, their MotM and gets a 6? Oh and the rating system is broken. I couldn’t give Torreira an 11.
Yeah I’m a bit confused about Laca’s rating.. Showed another gritty, passionate performance where half the time he was playing as a false 9 constantly pressuring Pools CDMs – he must have won the ball back at least 3 or 4 times.
Then he’s scores an absolute beauty to level the game? Surely that’s an 8?
Was expecting a defeat. Could possibly have won it? On the whole, pleased with the result. We can look very impressive on the attack.
Ratings seem a bit harsh on Laca and Kola, thought they both worked their arses off and were well involved in a lot of the good stuff we did.
Another outstanding performance from Torreira.
Ramsey was on long enough to rate… he was bad. Leno was also disappointing.
Not sure what the point of having the option to rate a player is if it just disappears after you do. Should be an Arseblog rating of “n/a” and allow the users to vote normally. Also Ramsey played for 20 minutes yesterday so not sure how that’s “on too late to rate.” I expect to be able to see a subs impact even if they play for just 10 minutes, otherwise what is the point?
Maniac, we all know Ramsey was poor. You’re not allowed to criticize him, though. Blogs and his Ramsey-tinted glasses is just one of those things.
He otherwise looks a good keeper, but I’m frustrated by Leno’s tendency to dive at low crosses early. Seems to do it every time and gets nowhere near most of them, leaving the goal wide open in the process. Very difficult to catch the low crosses if there is any pace on them and if not you end up tee-ing up the opposition or getting done by a deflection, as with Bellerin’s OG v Leicester.
Pretty decent game by all the Gunners today with exception of Auba. Both fullbacks didn’t play like they were just back from injury.
Give credit where credit is due. Mustafi was as good as he was bad at the Palace game. More of this please!
Fair result in the end. L’pool passed up some great chances. Progress is being made even though Spurs and United have caught up.
You mean exception of Mkhi. Auba did his best to give us a good start, best 1st half so far this season alot to do with him pushing them back.
The disdain from some on this website for Miki is odd. Solid game today and that was shown with the reception he got when he came off.
I dunno Mkhi flitted in and out of the game and there were moments where his touch or strength was slightly off too. Iwobi/welbeck much more impressive when they were brought on
I agree. He played very well, contributed when we won back the ball on several occations and as always his offensive instinct and quick thnking is refreshing in a team that is sometimes too slow in build-up.
I agree, Matt P. Look at how Emery reacts when Mhki is subbed. He slaps him on the shoulder and shouts something to him excitedly as he strolls to the bench. The impression I got was Emery was very happy with his performance, as if he’d played to his coach’s game plan…
Watch mkhi again, he lost us several opportunities, passed the ball to their players and if he’d looked up at one point auba would have had a goal too
I thought Mkhitaryan worked hard, was very involved, but was consistently off the mark at important moments. Like others, I wanted Iwobi on a bit earlier.
I love Auba but it just wasn’t his day today. Too many offside.
I was a bit frustrated with Miki’s giveaways at the beginning but he eventually settled and saw quite alot of the ball.
Thought Iwobi could have been introduced earlier for Mhki who was ok, abit ineffective but worked his socks off. Torreira is a most important player. If he can stay fit im confident of top 4 and maybe even putting decent pressure on the top 2.
Positive performances by Kolasinac and mustafi against arguably the most frightening attack in the league.
MORE than positive.
Kolasinac did very well today considering just back from injury. BIG shout to him.
Bit harsh on Ozil and Hector, both solid 7.5’s for me, Ozil did a solid job off the ball and retained as well if not better than anyone. Mustafi 8, Holding 8.5 also.
Laca a 7.5 for his work rate and great important goal, we lacked nerve infront of goal mostly today, but in that moment he showed he can handle the pressure in a big game, deserves mad respect for that goal at that point of the game. Credit to Emery for leaving him on too, it worked, Iwobi lb inside through balls were quite the surprise, looks like everyone’s been having a go at LB!
Özil also had the most key passes (4), most attacking third passes (22/28), most passes in the penalty area (4/6) and pulled off some absolute brilliant flicks. I’ll never understand why so many people (blogs included) think that if Özil doesn’t score a goal and assist two he’s been mediocre. He linked up play excellently, pressed well and was absolutely essential in pinning Liverpool back deep into their own half. Despite the rating and blog’s snide criticism, this was exactly the sort of big game performance that Arsenal needed from Özil.
Agreed, i’m Surprised that people think he wasn’t up to it today! He was fantastic and in first half he created some fantastic chances for Auba, Laca & Bellerin I think. Together with Xhaka he spread our play well and dragged their DM’s out of position, he really worked hard and was very active. People have this pure conceived notions and are just sticking to it, for them Ozil has to be absolutely great if not crap he can’t be anything in between. If Ramsey had turned in a performance like this, blogs would have said differently. Also, once we… Read more »
@tw_ht, good info and thank for this perspective. I also thought he played a good game, but the stats above reveal even more. I especially agree that he gave their side a lot to think about. I’m of a mind that if we’d gained some momentum to get them on the back foot, he would have gone off.
Hear hear. We had to listen to Lee Dixon here, and even he ended up praising Ozil’s movement as brilliant a few times making life difficult for Liverpool’s defense. He and Auba may not have logged a goal, but early in the match they put the fucking FEAR into Liverpool, and that had a lasting benefit throughout the match.
They may not have cashed in as much as they could have, but I love having 3-5 dangerous attacking players on the pitch again. Well played to Emery for keeping Arsenal The Arsenal.
Why is Lee Dixon so critical of Arsenal? Very rarely even a mildly positive comment from him. Maybe he is overcompensating
Earlier on, Dixon said something about Ozil not being in the game, and Graeme Le Saux pointed out that his constant movement between the lines was pulling away Liverpool’s defenders and creating space for Mkhitaryan and Lacazette.
Hmm it might even have been Graeme I heard say it then. I do admit I have a bit of a tendency to tune Dixon out.
I think we played better than we have played in any game this season. This looked like the most balanced performance by our team, on defence and attack. I was afraid of the opportunities we would gift to Liverpool, since we have gifted so many to lesser talented sides, but we restricted them to very few opportunities. I spent the entire game amazed by how well Laca, Ozil and Mkhi played. They really took the game by the scruff of the neck. Aubameyang worked as an outlet for us and pinned the Liverpool defence back, which allowed us to dominate… Read more »
In that Ramsey comment, I think you underestimate how good Torreira is. This guy is in my eyes one of the best midfielders in the world, no jokes.
Good game, good point, but we dropped to 5th, ManU back in contention (only 3 points behind), 1/9 points against top 5 teams (2 home games). It’s tough this year, our rivals for the champions league spots seem to be very cynical, which means that the games we win (see our recent spree) they tend to win too. That leaves the direct confrontations, and also means that drawing at Palace, while OK given the circumstances (3 games in a week, emergency at LB, etc), simply doesn’t cut it. Let’s keep up the good run until the next moment of truth… Read more »
Feel like I disagree with a lot of these ratings blogs. Ozil, Aubameyang, and Lacazette had solid but slightly unlucky games, each of them deserves a +1 or +1.5 in Laca’s case.
Me too, reckon he’s been a bit harsh on those blokes ^^^ and also Mkhi and Kolasinac. But hey, nothing wrong with some differences of opinion!
Laca a 7.5 for his work rate and brilliant important goal. We lacked nerve in front of goal mostly tonight and in that moment he showed he can handle that pressure in a big game. Credit to Emery for leaving him on too, it worked! Iwobi’s cameo was surprising too, looks like everyone’s been having a go a LB, those inside line passes were seriously effective, most effective attacking period of the game arguably because Iwobi was a LB, Emery is a smart man.
A lot of “average “ marks here across the front four ,and yet there was an efficiency that seems to have gone unnoticed……. I mean wow, we were good going forward weren’t we?
I’m seriously pleased with that performance and it’s the sum of the parts, that’s more important than the individuals.
All over the park, we are a different prospect now… Bravo Team and Emery.
I thought we provided the brilliant movement and invention today.
They had good hances but mostly from set pieces against issues we have not completely resolved defensively.
We took them a apart a number of times and dominated most of the game.
It was they that looked decidedly average considering all the predictions about Salah, Mane and Firmino.
Both their fullbacks looked under duress from our play out wide.
Agreed, we kept them off-balance, they weren’t ready for us!
Blogs,
Time to change the “flick the switch at the top above
Petr Cech” note. Unless you know something we don’t
🙂
Well, their goal was, in my opinion, entirely Leno’s fault.
The Terrier was MOTM. Honorable mention to Holding. I want more of him in the starting XI (with Sokratis, please). I refuse to praise Mustafi for simply not-fucking-up, but he was actually quite good today. I think Mhiki was better than a lot of us are giving him credit for. Look back at how many times he won the ball high up the pitch. No wonder he had to be the first to come off. They scored one – we knew that would happen – but no more. We scored one – they knew that would happen – but no… Read more »
On Mhiki – yes, exactly. Unfortunately some here seem to underappreciate those sorts of subtleties
Nah Granit.
He bossed midfield.
Superb tackles, one great sliding tackle to deny Salah on the break into our box.
BUT he switches focus of play for us and transitions us very quickly onto the front foot.
Won the ball back a number of times and worked his way out dribbling out of trouble but also when needed to relieved us of pressure by holding or running out of defense with the ball.
Torreira was great as usual but MOTM hands down Granit.
Mikhitariyan deserves a lot more credit then he is getting.
He is one of the main reasons our high press worked so well. And he chased down Mane and won the ball back so many times. Made bellerin’s job much more easier.
Completely agree. Worked his ass off the entire game defensively – pressing both Mane and Robertson back into their own half – and got into solid attacking positions. The only really bad moment was in the 50′ when he could have crossed early to Auba for a tap-in. That aside, he was industrious, went hard into tackles, tracked back, linked up play nicely when required and really set the tone for our forward press. An extremely useful, if not particular glamorous, performance.
Mkhitaryan was active and quite good in this match so I find blogs rating strange. He had a part in many of our chances and won the ball in their half several times. His is not the only rating that I find harsh, but these things are just opinions
Yes!!!!! It seems unless you are doing really ‘dynamic’ (assists, goals, etc) things you aren’t playing well! Odd assessment
He got a really good reception when he came off. He played well
Such a great all round performance that I am disappointed that we didn’t get the 3 points. We overrun them in the midfield, pressed them high and play some beautiful football but like most of the times Arsenal will not get the credit. Everyone is only talking about the offside situation and how we were lucky. For me that is clear offside. At the very moment when Mane started running towards the ball he became active and interfered the play. Isn’t that just the common sense? Why is it so tough to understand. What is your opinion on Mkhitaryan-Alisson and… Read more »
1) Leno – One good save to deny VanDjik at point blank range. Could have done better for the goal maybe . Came out quickly to smother Van Djik again (I believe) at point blank range before Mustafi cleared close to the off the line. Not so good when he came out to claim another ball which Van Djik (yet again) beat him to and hit the post. Otherwise a decent outing. 2) Bellerin – Caught out of position by Mane which led to our goal. Otherwise tirelessly up and down the flank dominating and providing defensive presence very high… Read more »
I love me a gerkin press ?
Thanks for your thoughtful analysis. Many salient points, not all of which I agree with, but thanks!
Proberbly Xhaka’s best ever game for us. Today he was the player I’d thought we had bought
Very proud of the team tonight, Torreira is a beast, and credit to the whole defence, Mustafi included.
Granit 5 tackles, 97 passes, 118 touches…MORE than any Arsenal player on the pitch today.
People want to look for what they want to so they want to trumpet Torreira (who was good too) but they conveniently only look at faults in some (like say Mustafi) where others also make mistakes (Holding poor pass) and prefer not to see the good play of others over their favorites (point in case here Granit.
For that matter Mhkitaryan although a mixed bag of results put in a great shift today in terms of postion defensively.
CREDIT WHERE ITS due.
I feel most of Blogs’ ratings are .5 or 1 lower than they should be
According to the match report Micki was “superb”, yet he gets a 5. Hmm…
Ibowi started the move that led to the goal.Thats why Arsenal need this type
of guys like he and Welbeck to run at defences.
This draw sends a message that the days when the big teams can win by 3/4/5
goal margin are over.Of course its early days but I believe Emery can
shore up the defence unlike the old boss who was too arrogant to
improve his defence. His mantra of attack 99.99% of the time
caused the big losses.
Torreira was immense, and the defense did well to stifle their front three. Fair play to Iwobi, coming on and making an impact. Ramsey, on the other hand, came on and offered nothing. He had seventeen minutes, plus nearly six minutes of stoppage time to do something. If he had come on in the 89th or 90th minute, then sure, there’s not enough time to have an impact. To claim that he wasn’t on long enough to rate is disingenuous. Iwobi — with only five more minutes of playing time than Ramsey — warrants a rating? Blogs’s affinity for the… Read more »
Starting to think you pick these ratings out of a hat blogs
Only 6 for Lacazette and Ozil? What the fuck? Both were stellar today and worked their asses off. Ratings this time seem to be pulled out of thin air. Kola, Holding and Iwobi also deserve much better.
I tried to give Lacazette a 7.5, but trying to do ratings on the phone is really fiddly and my fingers were freezing standing outside. Then the server went down and I just published when it came back up without checking everything was the way it should be.
Could someone explain why they downvoted Arseblogs response? Ppl are strange
It’s alright blogs, I’d have been harsh too if I’d had to wait 45 mins on a parked plane that smells of poo. ?
Ozil was very good today.That passes for Laca and for Mkhi before his backheel and skipping the ball for Obameyang can and usualy make the difference in a tight game like this.
Sorry….we played 2 in midfield and won the battle against 3. How the fuck is Torreira not getting a ten. That lad has me defensive cock erect. Those two ball winners in the middle are my version of Piers Morgen guessing a grieving parents pin number.
Proud proud PROUD of the Arsenal! COYG!! Let’s achieve something this season!
Blogs, I usually always agree with your ratings, but a bit harsh this time don’t you think? Out front four weren’t so bad! Specially the Oz and Miki (5 really?). I think our weakest performer today was Leno. Good saves, but he’s found himself flapping in no man’s land a bit too many times in the past few games for my liking.
Thought Mkhitaryan put in a shift today. A bit lightweight at times, but notably active, particularly helping on the defensive side of things. He really helped Bellerin on that side in a game where hanging him out to dry would likely have not gone unpunished. Still thought subbing him was the right decision, mainly because of all that running he’d been doing and also just to pose a different question to the Liverpool defenders. It wasn’t a great performance from him, but if 6 is the default rating then I’d say he earned at least that. In fact I don’t… Read more »
I’m too happy rn.I don’t care if some of these ratings are inflated
Leno:7.5 (Personally I don’t blame him for the goal as much as other people do.His clearance took a deflection off Holding.)
Kola:7
Mustafi:8
Holding:9
Bellerin:7
Xhaka:9.5
Torreira:9
Ozil:8
Mkhitaryan:7
Auba:6
Laca:7.5
Totally agree with those ratings, spot on!
We did not win. It was a draw. Remember.
This was a complete game from our guys. Deserves a repeat viewing, honestly. QUALITY.
I generally agree with the ratings, but today I am little puzzled. Was I watching a different game? Because I thought everyone in the team played their socks off. The opposition was good too, and it was a very intense game without much nasty/cunty stuff. I thought, all things considered, everyone deserved a between7-8 rating, with Torreira a notch higher.
I watch a lot of football, and I feel only a few teams across Europe are playing better than us at the moment (City included). Its a shame we are not the the UCL.
I am amazed reading some of the comments here. Yes, it’s two points dropped. But did you see how intricate and in-tune our passing was? When was the last time Arsenal played with this confidence in a big game? I was fucking delighted watching us move the ball like bosses. Even when they scored, I knew we’re going to get one. Every single player was up for it. We didn’t give them a second to breathe. And who’s this Fabinho chap? Looked pretty ordinary.
Agree.
Individual player ratings are a little meaningless after such a good performance as a team. The parts being less than the sum of the whole etc.
very heartening performance
Everyone is singing our SA ‘s name.He was a bulldog unafraid to get into challenges with bigger dogs. That sums up what Arsenal were missing under the fm.The latter was too haughty to change believing in his own philosophy which had failed the last 10 years. As for him managing another big club believe me he will be axed asap if he fails to win and keeps on losing games. As for Arsenal thank God for Emery. This is a guy who has won the 2nd tier Euro trophy and knows how to create a winning team.These are early days.… Read more »
I was surprised the much maligned defenders like Mustaphi and co did the
team proud.Salah was stifled to agreat extent and was imho impotent.
No more hasty tackles which could have resulted in a spot kick when the reds
charged into the box.
Hopefully the defence will improve a s it evolves.If Arsenal had some luck they
have won.
Emery has so much passion it energises everyone, players and fans alike
One of Mustafis best games for us I thought. Also impressed with Xhaka – the tackle in the box in the first half – woof!!! Overall a good performance and the positive vibes continue. We are still a work in progress but going in the right direction. Iwobi is the surprise of the season for me – he made a big difference when he came on. My only concern really is Miki – I’m quite underwhelmed….
Do you remember when Phil Neville called Xhaka “fake”? Really proud to see Xhaka blossom.
Was blogs pissed by the time he did these ratings?
Expect more from Miki he is a big player but seems he still suffering form his time with Jose.
Auba did very well and we actually played well in the 1st half thanks to his efforts but still he is not a winger.
Mustafi did well but still his decision making is awful and can see that clearly in the Van Dijk chance and their goal.
Holding is growing up to be something special.
Ozil was decent IMO
We have to keep working hard