After watching West Brom today, it's a lot easier to understand how they won at Old Trafford last week. In what's been one of the toughest matches of Arsenal's season so far, the Gunners got out of The Hawthorns with a hard-fought point after a 1-1 draw.
Wojciech Szczesny - 7 – Another solid display from Szczesny. He could do little with Claudio Yacob's goal, and made some important saves in both halves.
Carl Jenkinson – 6 – One can never fault Jenkinson's application. But his use of the ball was maddeningly poor (with a pass success of only 79%). He also failed to consistently close down crosses from his side of the pitch.
Per Mertesacker – 7 – At times he was dragged out to the right flank to cover Jenkinson. But his individual display was one of the better ones on show. He helped hold the defence together when West Brom pressed for a winner.
Laurent Koscielny – 7 – He sailed close to the wind with a late penalty shout for West Brom. But his defending was generally on the accomplished side, comfortably making more interceptions (6) than any other player on the pitch.
Kieran Gibbs - 7 – Gibbs struggled to affect the game going forward, missing a decent chance in the first-half. However, his defensive game has greatly improved. He's learning more to cover his centre-half when needed, and had a great contest with Morgan Amalfitano.
Mikel Arteta – 6 – I wonder if Arteta is still getting his match-fitness back after his absence through injury. He passed the ball competently (95% success rate), but failed to control the midfield. His partnership with Mathieu Flamini has potential, but may need a little more work.
Mathieu Flamini – 6 – Flamini gave his obligatory dogged display – and picked up his obligatory yellow card – but there were too many occasions that West Brom looked dangerous in between the lines. Flamini's played a lot of football in recent weeks, and the international break could be good for him.
Mesut Ozil – 7 – While Ozil wasn't as incisive as he was against Napoli, most of Arsenal's best moments came from the German. He gave superb passes to create chances for Gibbs and Olivier Giroud (chances which were wasted). It looks as if he'll be the club's “go-to guy” in tight contest such as this.
Aaron Ramsey – 6 – The problem with shuttling midfielders such as Ramsey, is that if they're not scoring (or assisting) goals, they can be ineffective. The Welshman threatened with one long-range effort, but seemed to be struggling with an injury, and was substituted for Tomas Rosicky.
Olivier Giroud - 6 – This performance felt more like the Giroud from last season. Industrious, but a bit of a blunt instrument in attack. He deserves credit for his part in the equaliser, but he should have done better with a good chance created for him in the second-half.
Jack Wilshere – 7 – The opening 45 minutes were probably the worst Wilshere will ever have in an Arsenal shirt. Which makes his second-half display all the more impressive. He didn't let his head drop, refocused, and after scoring the crucial equaliser, performed pretty well. His sumptuous pass that created a chance for Giroud deserved a goal.
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Tomas Rosicky – 7 - His introduction was key in Arsenal getting back into the match. Offered greater energy, and assisted Wilshere's goal.
Nicklas Bentdner – Made little impact after coming on for Giroud.
This match proved that Arsenal haven't cracked it just yet, but they did well to ensure that they got something from a game, which they probably would have lost in seasons past. The sooner our injured players get back, the better. But let's be honest. Who wouldn't have taken being top of the Premier League going into the international fixtures?
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