Arsenal vs City Player Ratings and Match Reactions

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya - 4 - What the hell was he playing at today, so fortunate not to have cost us


White 7 - Wasn’t tested as much by Foden as he might have been by Greallsh, but solid anyway


Saliba 9 - Had Alf Inge’s boy in his back pocket


Gabriel 8 - Maybe the less lauded of a great centre back pairing, but no less important


Zinchenko 5 - Didn’t cause too much grief apart from opening ten minutes


Jorginho 7 - Gave away silly yellow card early on but after that was tidy and efficient


Rice 8.5 - Great goal-line clearance, as game went on his confidence grew and he didn’t allow City to build any momentum


Odegaard 7 - Didn’t really have chance to do much as attacking options were limited, but certainly didn’t hide as he has done in the past


Trossard 6 - Subdued, picked up a knock in the first half.


Nketiah 5 - Sorry but just not good enough


Jesus 6.5 - Gvardiol kept him quiet



Subs


Martinelli - 7 - Looked a bit rusty after three weeks out but was our best attacking outlet and seemed appropriate therefore he got the goal albeit with huge deflection


Tomiyasu - 7 - He’s a useful player to have, keeps things tidy defensively


Partey - 7.5 - Gave us some extra legs near the end


Havertz - 7 - Kept attack alive for Martinelli to score


Not a classic game, not a classic performance but a result that is utterly invaluable. Our mental block against City is ended…and we did so by putting out their fire. Did it help that De Bruyne wasn’t available to them, well yes as much as it helped them that Saka wasn’t available to us.

I haven’t especially enjoyed this season, certainly not the football or the tactical setup. But the setup today whilst not always easy on the eye was absolutely the right one. We really neutered them.

I was in no doubt before this game that Saliba and Gabriel are the best centre back pair in the premier league, today has only reaffirmed that for me.

Hopefully our fearless leader takes today as a lesson of what can be achieved with such players with a solid game plan.

And I accept that I had it wrong about our lineup today. I think Jorginho was an experienced head today, and possibly if we’d started Partey we’d have run out of steam to build any momentum late in the game.