Two defeats in a week sees Arsenal slip to 4th in the league although, the officiating has been poor in both games. Arsenal took the lead through a Walcott goal but Arsenal failed to capitalise on the poor City defending. An offside which wasn’t given changed the match with Sane the scorer before Sterling won it for City.
Cech – 6 - Made a couple of good saves and was key in the Arsenal goal. However, the plan of playing the long ball was poor and kept allowing City to come back at us.
Bellerin – 7 – One of the better Arsenal players and was instrumental in the first goal. Won tackles all first half but looked a shadow of himself in the second.
Gabriel – 6 – Poor in the second half especially and doesn’t have the presence of Mustafi.
Koscielny – 6 – Looked off the pace today and was poor which was evidenced with his sloppy passes.
Monreal – 6 – The winner came from his side but did make a lot of blocks throughout.
Xhaka - 6 – Poor throughout and had poor distribution which allowed the pressure to build.
Coquelin – 6 – Wasn’t at his best today and that showed. Often got himself into trouble but he didn’t have any options when trying to play forward.
Walcott – 7 - Scored the Arsenal goal and did look dangerous when around the goal.
Ӧzil – 6 – Poor throughout the match and failed to turn up again when needed this year.
Iwobi – 6 – Looked decent in spells but struggling for form at the moment.
Sanchez – 7 – Worked hard all match and was probably the only Arsenal player who put a shift in.
Subs
Oxlade – Chamberlain – N/A – Only lasted 15 minutes before going off injured.
Giroud – N/A – Didn’t get a kick when he came on.
Elneny – N/A – Passed it well but didn’t have much time.
A poor week for Arsenal in terms of their own results but also their rivals. Any comments at the moment are purely reactive but for someone who is always the optimist this is looking like it will be another year without the title.
Ask yourself the question, can you see Chelsea dropping 9 points with their defence?