Arsenal v Hull City: Player Ratings

Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The early season woes continue to pile up for Arsenal as they come away from a match at the Emirates with a 2-2 draw, dropping them eleven points behind the league leaders. Amidst injury concerns for Jack Wilshere, a solid first half performance dissipated as Arsenal was undone again early in the second half before snatching an equalizer in the final minutes. Here are your player ratings:

Szczesny: 7.5

A tidy finish from Diame and powerful header from Hernandez denied Szczesny any real chance at stopping the goals. Frustration at an inability to keep clean sheets will grow for the Polish keeper.

Bellerin: 7.4

The youngster acquitted himself well in his Premier League debut, though showed some immaturity on the ball at times. His speed can get him out of a lot of jams and it did a couple times today. Read the game properly and made a couple smart interceptions on the right flank.

Mertesacker: 7.1

Beaten far too easily in the air for Hull’s second, Mertesacker’s score is held up by his reading of the game on multiple Hull attacks at the end of the first half and beginning of the second. Did well to mostly hold a makeshift back line together in a difficult match.

Monreal: 7.3

Filled in outside of his comfort zone capably and provided the cross from which Arsenal nearly pulled an equalizer. While there are some concerns about his heading ability, the Spaniard proved a solid backup against this level of opponent.

Gibbs: 7.5

Gibbs did well on the left throughout, given that he operated with the “weak” side of the centre-back pairing. Didn’t get forward quite as much, though he put in two successful crosses. Agonizingly close to scoring the winner, he still did well to force a low save at full stretch.

Flamini: 7.4

Flamini’s early season failures seem to be smoothing out as he turned in his second quality performance in a row. The form seen against Chelsea continued with a solid showing as cover for the back four.

Wilshere: 7.6

Ever the driving force in Arsenal’s midfield, the magic wasn’t there today but that doesn’t negate a couple fantastic balls into the box and his ceaseless pushing forward. Wenger mentioned that England wasn’t using him properly and Wilshere showed again today why he has to be allowed to drive at the defence. An injury forced him off in the second half, and his loss would be yet another sucker punch for this club.

Oxlade-Chamberlain: 7.2

Looked very good in the early stages, but it just wasn’t there after the first forty-five minutes. Impact players cause trouble even when they’re not in their best form, and Oxlade-Chamberlain is an example of this. Even with poor passing and a couple instances of alarming ball control, his marauding style forces defenders to pay extra attention to him as he approaches the final third.

Cazorla: 7.6

One of the reasons Arsenal fans enjoy seeing Cazorla playing as a #10 is his willingness to shoot from the edge of the box. An early curling effort was turned wide and a couple more cracking shots were blocked by a committed Hull defence. For all that wilingness to shoot, he missed a golden opportunity to equalize in the second half when he elected to pass behind a streaking Alexis in the box.

Alexis: 8.3 – MAN OF THE MATCH

A great opening sequence started by a good play from Mertesacker saw him get the first goal. After beating two Hull defenders, he slotted nicely into the bottom left corner to put Arsenal up 1-0. He also provided the run and pass to set up Welbeck for the equalizer late on. The thing that holds Alexis back from even higher ratings is his propensity to pick needlessly difficult passes and surrender possession, blunting his squad’s attack.