Arsenal v Manchester City: Player Ratings

7.7. Did all that had to be done. He wasn’t tested much by City, surprisingly, but he took care of every shot that came his way and made some good plays on crosses. It’s going to be hard for Szczesny to find his way back into the first team at this rate. Ospina is now 2/2 in BPL clean sheets.. GK. Arsenal FC. DAVID OSPINA

HECTOR BELLERIN. 7.8. Bellerin is coming along so nicely. His pace is unreal and his defending has grown by leaps and bounds. Made some excellent plays and even when he was caught out, his recovery speed prevented any trouble. This kid is going to be something special.. RB. Arsenal FC

Arsenal FC. PER MERTESACKER. 8.0. Per “the rhino” had a fantastic game, as did everyone on the back line. Made some clutch clearances and made a few athletic plays that earned him praise from the Arsenal fans. Hopefully this is the start of a trend and not a fluke.. CB

LAURENT KOSCIELNY. 7.9. Also great, he and Mertesacker are starting to mesh like old times. Really questionable tackle early on but was never at risk afterwards. My confidence is steadily growing in this defense.. CB. Arsenal FC

7.6. Good game from Monreal as well. Drew the penalty that got the goal, covered Jesus Navas very well and denied several crosses. Had a really shaky clearance over our own net but it didn’t hurt.. LB. Arsenal FC. NACHO MONREAL

MID. Arsenal FC. FRANCIS COQUELIN. 8.0. Careful, if Coquelin keeps this up he’s going to convince Wenger (and a whole lot of others) that Arsenal don’t need to sign a deep-lying midfielder. Coquelin looks so confident and comfortable on the ball it’s unreal. In heavy traffic he doesn’t worry, he doesn’t make silly mistakes. He still struggles to contribute to attacks, but we don’t need him to. He’s an aerial presence and a strong, physical body.

AARON RAMSEY. 7.7. Ramsey looked great on the ball as well. Showed excellent skill as if he hadn’t missed all that time to injury, which is so refreshing to see. Bumbled a few plays, but nothing serious. He was clearly tired towards the end and injury became a serious concern. Great to see Rambo back and looking as skillful as ever.. MID. Arsenal FC

Arsenal FC. ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN. 7.5. Made some excellent runs and skill plays. I have to remind myself how young he is sometimes. Ox is a beast on the pitch. The only reason his grade is lower is because he was taken out early in the second half. Still had a great game.. MID

8.8. An absolutely, positively, unquestionable man of the match performance from Cazorla. Looked untouchable. When he had the ball, you could have sent an entire tank battalion at him and he still would have emerged on the other side with the ball on his foot. Put away the penalty and assisted Giroud’s header. Few in the world are playing better than Cazorla. It was almost surreal the stuff he was able to do. MID. Arsenal FC. SANTI CAZORLA

7.4. Surprisingly my least favorite performance of the night. Alexis came off frustrated. He made some excellent plays and is still a footballing genius but he had some errant touches and passes and really befuddled himself at times. That’s not to say he had a bad game though, he’s still Alexis, and Alexis doesn’t have bad games.. MID. Arsenal FC. ALEXIS SANCHEZ

ST. Arsenal FC. OLIVIER GIROUD. 7.7. Missed out on one heading opportunity just to slot away another on a beautiful ball from Cazorla. Would have had another late on as well but for a blocked cross. Giroud plays his heart out, making up for his lack of pace with extraordinary effort. His aerial presence is seen at both ends of the pitch and he’s becoming an intricate part of this squad.

7.2. Didn’t contribute too terribly much. Had a couple of good runs after being brought on but nothing too drastic.. MID. Arsenal FC. TOMAS ROSICKY

7.5. Looked great despite his supposed injury. His attacking abilities continue to amaze me. With the little time he had, he made his presence known.. LB. Arsenal FC. KIERAN GIBBS

Arsenal FC. MATHIEU FLAMINI. 7.3. Didn’t see much of the hot-headed Frenchman, but by the time he was brought on, the game was well in hand.. MID