A first half own goal from Shaktar Donetsk goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk – after a Gabriel Martinelli shot ricocheted off the post and then the Ukrainian’s arse – was enough for Arsenal to take all three points in the Champions League this evening.
There were good first half chances for Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus, while Leandro Trossard missed a generously awarded penalty. Not particularly convincing, but three points all the same.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Read the Arsenal 1-0 Shaktar Donetsk match report and see the goals here
The ratings are hidden by default until you vote, but if you just want to view the ratings and the comments, flick the switch at the top above David Raya. Also, please give the ratings a few seconds to load.
Please note: Ratings currently don’t work in the Arseblog apps – open in a browser for full functionality.
I think it’s totally reasonable to miss your two best creative players- but not by this much.
It looks as though we could play for 10 games at the moment and not score from open play. Bit concerning as it wasn’t vastly different even with Saka- his dead ball delivery is just so good it got us out of jail a few times.
We scored from open play
No we didn’t.
Yes we did.
no, we didn’t. it was an own goal.
…in open play
It was a miss that became a fortunate own goal
Missing those two players means we need others to come to the fore, and in this way score from fore play.
wheeeeyyyy… well done Mr. Mayor, shall I get you your McCoat?
Thank you, Jeeves, and my top hat as well.
What’s the point of Sterling? what does he add to the team? I mean, you want control you bring Jorginho, you want something fresh and inventive bring Nwaneri… Sterling brings what exactly? seniority? Reiss’ cameos were MILES ahead of him
Chelsea player
So were Jorginho and Havertz, so your point?
He was our biggest threat against Bournemouth until he got taken off. Huge upgrade on Reiss Nelson who isn’t a terrible player by any means. You can trash him 20 games from now if he hasn’t delivered.
If his performances don’t improve he may not get many opportunities in the next 20 games. Kind of surprising since he is playing for his next contract. He’s not putting in the hard yards off the ball and I’ll be surprised if the manager plays him in any meaningful PL games.
And he is coming into a team without the compass and the chart; let’s face it w/o MO we are struggling;
Thought the Jesus rating was generous. I love the guy but it’s just not happening for him lately, really hope he can turn it around.
Yes, can’t wait to have our two bonified superstars back in the squad!
4/4 dribbles completed, 7/10 duels won, 1 big chance missed.
I think this sum up his game quite well. He was good but still missing this goal although I believe it will come (maybe Sunday ?)
Hope you’re right bro
I hope I am as well. Loved him when he arrived with Zinny but that knee injury seems to have lasted for ever 🙁
Or considering his age, caused a permanent reduction in his ability.
again you and your “balanced analysis”, daring to cite factual data in the face of perfectly good subjective complaining.
The data itself does not provide the conclusion. It’s the assessment of the data that allows one to judge “good or bad” in the context of the surrounding environment.
In other words, he won 7 duels and had 4 dribbles. Some see that as underwhelming while others see it as life affirming…nothing is objective in football. Other than 3 points of course…
Sorry mate, the data are more interesting than the game I witnessed 🙁
I’m struggling to believe he had a 100% dribble rate? Off the bat remember two runs where he kept it too long and eventually got tackled.
I have no idea on the methodology they use to consider if this is a dribble or not but I double checked my app and still shows this.
All in all, what I meant was that I thought he was good yesterday but still is missing this goal although this time he shot directly instead of taking 2 millions touches in the box so I guess that’s already progress !
As long as they’re not playing under the influence of Viagra.
Moving TP back to RB and Cala going off injured just about sums up our awful luck at the moment.
It’s a win but we need a change in our luck Gods.
Am willing to offer Calafiori my knees or anything he needs at this point. Really sucks that Tomi had a setback.
Tierney: not injured all the time till he got to Arsenal. Now injured all the time.
Tomiyasu: not injured all the time till he got to Arsenal. Now injured all the time.
Zinchecnko: not injured all the time till he got to Arsenal. Now injured all the time.
Calafiori: not injured all the time till he got to Arsenal… please stay healthy!
That’s an entire back 4
They have all had injuries before coming to Arsenal. Some even more games missed than now.
I appreciate the narrative but
Tierney missed 48 games at Celtic being injured, Zinny missed 88 games at City and Calafiori had a career ending injury while at Roma.
Injuries are part of the game and main reason why Mikel wanted a larger squad this year
*potential career ending injury for Calafiori
Correct !
Three points is three points, no matter how ugly it was. Of course we’re going to suffer without Saka and Odegaard, I remember on the odd occasion when Henry and Bergkamp were both out at the same time we looked a shadow of ourselves then despite having a brilliant squad. Can’t wait until the two of them are back again.
I’d love to see them back too but surely they’d be getting on a bit now?
I’d love to see TH and Bergie back!
That felt like watching 2019 Arsenal.
We look like we’re one bad result away from crumbling completely.
Saturday is a must win!
I hope not! We don’t play on Saturday so the chances of us getting 3 points are pretty abysmal. Sunday however……..
Sure we’re not losing neither
Bit of a champ manager suggestion maybe but I’d start Nwaneri at the weekend. We need a spark without Saka and Odegaard.
17 year old kid to the rescue? Get real
He should have played today. Look at Barca trusting Lamine Yamal.
He’s not at that level (yet). But I agree he should get more minutes in games like tonight.
I think he‘s more ready than the other kid who thought it‘s ok to play with earrings and therefore let us play with 10 man for a minute because he couldn’t get subbed on. Absolutely not a fan of these old dudes who are constantly complaining about fashion and hairstyle but that really annoyed me to be honest.
I don’t think that’s a complaint about fashion. Just common-sense. Not sure why you wouldn’t just take out the earring before the game and put it back in afterwards. It’s not like the hole is going to close up in 2 hours.
So… you’re saying he needs a clip round the ‘ear-hole’?
Give it a rest, I’m sure the team would have checked and thought it would be okay
Unlike Saka. The guy who played in 26 games (starting 19) in the 2019-20 season at a similar age.
Remember a certain teenage Cesc making a meal of Viera once he’d gone to Italy… only just after he joined. If I recall it was the night he came of age as a Gooner
At this rate, Jesús will be sold in the summer. Hard work is appreciated but for a forward so little end product is unacceptable. Sterling, well he’s past his best, and his explosiveness which often made the difference is also gone. Granted, he’s new and needs to get used to the environment but I don’t think he’s our type of player.
We get worst every time Sterling plays, he has no intensity, no will, nothing
You know who else is shit? That twat Havertz. Absolutely waste of £60m. Money down the drain.
Oh wait my comment seems to have lagged from October 2023.
Agreed TP started to look his old self first half. Awful 2nd half aside from Martinelli who was excellent in the absence of our superstars.
Speaking of which someone on the coaching staff needs to have a word with him about how to put the laces through it sometimes. Going for the curler at the far post every time makes goalkeepers learn your game.
What, like the one at the back post in the 2nd half where he lashed it and the keeper made a good save?
Or, you know, the goal that was scored?
Jesus on the wing is starting to remind me of Iwobi. Does the first 90% so so well, but consistently gets the final ball wrong. So frustrating to watch.
In his and Sterling’s defence. They are much better on the left wing. Put Martinelli, Trossard on the right and Saka on the left and they will mess up more final balls as well.
Not only Nwaneri didn’t start, he didn’t come off the bench either. He is our only creative player who can make things happen. Not impressed at all tonight. Just happy with the three points.
White’s foul was absolutely unnecessary and he got his hands up near his throat. I bet another part of the reason for Arteta to take him off was to show players bad decisions cost playing time. I can’t imagine he wanted to put TP back there.
Benjamin looked unfit in the last two games. Hope he can get up to speed quickly.
I want blogs grading my performances on Sundays. I’m 56, a stone overweight, can’t jump, couldn’t run for a bus and both my legs are chocolate legs.
He’s probably still give me a 5.
It’s hard to do ratings because everyone has a different opinion but for me it’s fair to judge a performance relative to the expectations of the player. Sterling is a player who supposedly has something to prove, lots of natural talent, earns 300k + a week and has many caps for England. Anything above a 3 for his ‘cameo’ is extremely generous. On the flip side I thought Partey was the glue which held us together tonight. He gets at least an 8 from me.
Are you available on Sunday?
Sorry Charlie. I’m injured. Arteta says “I’m close”. Which means I’ll be back somewhere between February and never. Gotta go. The line up for the treatment table is murder.
A win in the CL and the lot of moaning
Merino hiding all game
Did he sleep with your wife or something? He’s played two games and your previous comment about him was “bang average”.
Yes
I agree.
It’s early days, and Arteta has a track record of proving everyone wrong – but he looks really poor to my eyes. Certainly nowhere near what we got when we signed Partey.
Hope he finds his feet, but I’m not optimistic about this one. Just not seeing any glimpses of what he offers apart from being tall.
Love the Radio Raheem reference!
Been wondering what the hell that was all about. Thank you.
Bit too niche a reference IMO but fun for those who get it.
Before we write off Sterling, let’s remember that this time last year nearly everyone felt the same about Havertz, and by Christmas almost everyone would have happily sold him at a loss.
Players take time to adjust to new team mates, new managers and new tactics. Sure, he hasn’t hit any real form so far but he will surely have to play a part on Sunday against his first club and let’s remember how often players score against their former clubs.
True. But he’s only here for a season and he was supposedly brought in because he’d hit the ground running right away…
QPR was his first club. Would be nice to be playing them instead with the injuries we have!
But agreed. We need patience. Sterling can make a difference, he has the talent. At the moment he’s still learning the system and patterns and his team mates learning how to work with him. It doesn’t click straight away for everyone.
We need him on form at the moment with who we’re missing, and it’s frustrating.
We should know not to write anyone off. Same goes with Trossard who has had some bad moments but needs our support.
He’s a game changer.
Havertz was 24 when he signed, still full of potential. Sterling is 30 and hasn’t played decent football for 3 years. Way past his prime. I don’t get why some people think Sterling will magically transform into his 25yo self.
We did not count on having odegaard off for so long; if MO plays an Blanco finds his form, you would see some nice exchanges on the right flank
Wild Jesus rating
Partey has been looking really sharp recently. He seems like he actually has some pace and his decision making and passing have improved drastically. He could be huge for us this season if he can stay fit.
That’s the kiss of death
Can someone tell me why Jorginho is constantly referred to as Borginho in these ratings? Is this some play on his name I’m not getting or what?
It’s not something I’ve heard fans call him. I’m assuming the rating layout needs a first and last name and someone thought it was funny? Like an internal office joke we’re not aware of? Feels pretty disrespectful making up a random ‘inho’ as has surname, partially given the player lists name is ‘Jorginho Frello’ on social media and his full name is highlighted on the player’s bio on the Arsenal website.
Hear hear on that bonus rating! Glad we won but that game was not good to watch. It might have been the scotch I’d had after dinner, but I dozing off at points.
Watched ten mins then carried on plumbing in my new rad!
The amount of defensive work Martinelli does is incredible, Jesus too, really underrated part of both of their games. Trossard was playing all over the pitch and his performance was all over the place, too wasteful. Hard to believe the number of injuries that we have had to players that play left defender for us. Glad to see Lewis-Skelly come on instead of Zinchenko or Kiwior. Interesting to see the trust Arteta has in him, but why not the same trust in Nwaneri? Finally, the one good thing about Sterling is we are not committed to him beyond this year… Read more »