North London giants Arsenal hosted Sunderland at the Emirates on Saturday, as they looked to climb up the Premier League table with a win. Manchester City’s defeat earlier in the day meant that it was up to Arsene Wenger’s side to claim all three points and challenge for the top spot once again. The Gunners have not been in the best of forms in recent weeks and were keen on getting back to winning ways. The French manager knew that his side have a must win encounter coming up in Greece in mid-week and wanted an impressive performance from them.
Joel Campbell gave the Londoners the lead in the 33rd minute of the match, before Olivier Giroud put one into the back of his own net at the stroke of half time. Both sides went into the game at 1-1, with another 45 left to be played. Despite that, the Frenchman scored on the other side as well and gave his side the lead on the 63rd minute. Further, his team-mate and Wales international Aaron Ramsey added a third towards the end of the match to ensure all three points for his side, as it ended 3-1.
Player Ratings:
Petr Cech: 7/10
Made a few decent saves when his side needed him and eventually helped them to win the match.
Nacho Monreal: 7/10
Pushed forward well on the left hand side to support Ramsey as much as possible, though, was not the most impressive at the back and could have done better.
Per Mertesacker: 7/10
The German center-back was once again good at reading the game and made some vital tackles to stop the opposition attacks.
Laurent Koscielny: 6/10
Could be blamed for the opposition’s first goal, as he gave away a cheap free-kick. Did not look too solid at the back, especially as he tried to play the offside trap.
Hector Bellerin: 6/10
A decent shift by the Spaniard once again, yet could not really cope up with Van Aanholt completely. He gave him the chance to run through in the final minutes of the game, though no damage was eventually done.
Mathieu Flamini: 6/10
Restricted Fletcher’s free flowing movement as he nearly took a shot in the first period. Overall, the Frenchman did not have a good hold on the ball, as he gave it away cheaply time and time again.
Aaron Ramsey: 8/10
Played in a holding midfield role, Ramsey had a very good game. Got an assist to his name for Giroud’s headed goal and scored one himself at the end.
Mesut Ozil: 8/10
Once again the creative head of the side and claimed yet another assist for Campbell’s goal, which got the Gunners underway.
Olivier Giroud: 7/10
Unlucky as he put the ball into the back of his own net right before half-time, though scored one after the break to give Arsenal the lead.
Joel Campbell: 7/10
Scored the opener with a well taken finish and was good defensively as well.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6/10
Started off strongly in the match, though eventually faded away before being taken off in the second half.
Substitutes:
Calum Chambers: 5/10
Did not have much to do in the game as he came on to replace Giroud with 10 minutes left to play.
Kieran Gibbs: 5/10
Replaced Campbell for a total of 15 minutes in the game.
Theo Walcott: 6/10
Quick as always and gave new life to the attack, which made a difference in the result of the game.