Arsenal Player Ratings vs Middlesbrough
Arsenal had a tricky tie in the FA Cup as they faced giant killers Middlesbrough. The Championship side had defeated Manchester City in the previous round and as they look at gaining promotion into the Premier League, they would have seen this as another test for their future Premier League credentials.
Arsenal gave a debut to new signing Gabriel Paulista but it was their attack which was the talking point from the game. Right from the start, the Arsenal attack were in form and two beautifully taken goals from Olivier Giroud was the difference between the sides as the Gunners went into the half time break with a 2-0 lead, which could have been much more as Middlesbrough held on in the first half.
Arsenal controlled the rest of the game and they kept on trying to score more goals but the ultimately won the game 2-0 and booked their place in the next round of the cup.
Wojciech Szczesny: 6/10
Wasn’t really tested throughout the game, the Polish goalkeeper was not troubled a lot by the opposition and had a pretty easy day in the office.
Calum Chambers: 6/10
Chambers put in a decent performance and wasn’t really troubled from Middlesbrough, he did try to link up with the attack but was outdone by his teammate from the other wing Gibbs, who was more impressive.
Gabriel Paulista: 8/10
Playing his first game for Arsenal against a top Championship side but Gabriel, as he is called, did not look out of his depth and gave a mature performance which should ease the worries some fans would have had about a foreign talent adapting to the game, his communication with the rest of the team needs to improve though.
Laurent Koscielny: 7/10
The Frenchman was preferred to partner up with Gabriel and he produced a good performance in keeping the Middlesbrough forwards quiet.
Kieran Gibbs: 7/10
Was great in attack and had a big role to play in the first goal as he played a perfect ball across the goal for Olivier Giroud to score.
Mathieu Flamini: 7/10
Did not really have to do much in the game, most of the game was played by the Arsenal attack, Flamini would be hoping for such games to come often for him.
Santi Cazorla: 8/10
Another star performance from the Spanish ace, this time from a deeper midfield role. Cazorla was exceptional in attack as he kept linking with the attacking trio and provided a lot of spark for Arsenal attacks.
Mesut Ozil: 8/10
It felt like the old Mesut Ozil was back, Ozil was at the heart of everything good in attack from Arsenal and hopefully he can continue playing this same way for the Gunners in games to come. He was calm and composed with the ball and was able to find his teammates rather easily.
Alexis Sanchez: 7/10
The Chilean was fantastic in the first half as he tormented the Middlesbrough defence, the only thing missing from his performance was a goal. He was substituted for Rosicky in the 2nd half when the job was all done.
Danny Welbeck: 6/10
Welbeck was played in the wide position and not down the middle as he would prefer but he still had a decent outing and did have a couple of chances to score. All in all a decent performance by the Englishman and he was taken off in the 67th minute in place of Theo Walcott.
Olivier Giroud: 9/10
Giroud showed just how good he is in the first half as he scored a couple of great goals, the second one was fantastic as he volleyed in from a corner at the near post. He did have chances to complete his hat-trick but still a wonderful performance by the French forward.
Substitutes:
Tomas Rosicky: 7/10
Rosicky looked good in the 2nd half but didn’t really do much to trouble Middlesbrough as the game was more or less over in the 65th minute as Arsenal dominated the possession and game.
Theo Walcott: 7/10
Walcott was brought on in the 2nd half and he did have a chance to get his name on the score sheet, Walcott looked good for the 20+ minutes he was on the pitch.
Chuba Akpom: 5/10
Was brought on to replace Giroud late in the game and didn’t really have much time to do much in the game.