Manchester City vs Arsenal: Match Report and COMPLETE Player Ratings

Arsenal fell 2-1 to a Manchester City side that came back into the game after conceding an early goal. Here is Pain In the Arsenal’s Complete Player Ratings.

After a tremendous first half performance in which Arsenal were defensively disciplined and offensively dangerous, the prospects for the win were certainly rosy. However, a dismal second half display in which Manchester City dominated every facet of the game ensured that Arsene Wenger would see his team lose two consecutive games after taking an early lead.

Here are the player ratings from Sunday’s game.

7.1. Petr Cech conceded two excellent (from City’s point of view) goals during the second half, and there wasn’t a whole lot that he could have done about either. A Kevin de Bruyne effort nearly curled in via a deflection midway through the second half, and that was his most impressive stop of the game – however, he had a number of efforts to save, and City could have scored three.. GK. Arsenal FC. PETR CECH

HECTOR BELLERIN. 6.7. Hector Bellerin had room to go forward in the first half, but once Manchester City made adjustments, he had a handful of things to do on the defensive end. Leroy Sane and Kevin de Bruyne outnumbered him on the left flank over and over, and he started to lose his discipline as his team continued to lose the ball. This led to his impact on the game diminishing as the match wore on.. RB. Arsenal FC

6.5. Gabriel Paulista has played a part in the three most recent fixtures against Manchester CIty, and Arsenal have conceded in all of those games. City’s lack of a focal point in attack gave him and Koscielny lot of decisions to make when marking players, and in the second half he started to get beaten defensively. When Arsenal needed composure on the ball after they went 2-1 down, he wasn’t there to be that rock in the center. Mustafi is sorely missed at the minute.. CB. Arsenal FC. GABRIEL PAULISTA

6.7. Laurent Koscielny got caught napping for the first goal and it’s clear, once again, that his partnership with Mustafi was the key to success for Arsenal. Without the German alongside him, he can’t communicate as well with his defensive partner. City overwhelmed him and Gabriel, and they couldn’t work together to overcome the blue onslaught.. CB. Arsenal FC. LAURENT KOSCIELNY

Nacho Monreal had a tough time against City’s attacking midfielders. Understandable considering their quality, but he is one of the league’s best left-backs and Arsenal fans don’t often see him getting skinned in a game. Today he was overpowered on multiple occasions, and he didn’t communicate with his attacking teammates when he needed to. Mesut Ozil was deeper than he was, and Monreal drifted wide left to a position that was unreachable with a pass.. LB. Arsenal FC. NACHO MONREAL. 6.3

GRANIT XHAKA. 6.6. Granit Xhaka and Francis Coquelin’s partnership that was tasked with protecting Arsenal’s back four seemed to disappear in the last 30 minutes. City tired them out and the pair of them were chasing shadows for long periods of the game. Xhaka’s passing was accurate until about the 65th minute, at which point Arsenal players couldn’t seem to find each other anymore. A City swarm in midfield doomed Xhaka to being outnumbered, and Mesut Ozil didn’t do his job relieving pressure in midfield.. MID. Arsenal FC

Francis Coquelin bounced around the field winning the ball and tackling players, but he couldn’t adjust to City’s tactical moves. They started to focus on passing triangles around him and he couldn’t win the ball back effectively as a result. Coquelin’s passing has never been world-class, and the Citizens blocked nearly all of his played passes in the final 30 minutes. A good effort from Coquelin, but he was outclassed.. MID. Arsenal FC. FRANCIS COQUELIN. 6.8

MID. Arsenal FC. THEO WALCOTT. 6.7. Theo Walcott scored the opening goal of the game very early on, but he must’ve snuck out the side entrance after the first half was over and given his jersey to his dopple-ganger. In the second half Gael Clichy (his former teammate) completely removed him from the game.

Mesut Ozil put in another sub-standard performance, and he looked very unmotivated to get his team back level after City’s second goal went in. He ended up at left back late on in the game because Monreal had overlapped so far up the field. That pretty much sums up his day.. MID. Arsenal FC. MESUT OZIL. 5.5

6.0. Alex Iwobi was a very positive influence in the first half, but he just couldn’t get his final balls to come off. In the second half he got totally overwhelmed on his flank and looked extraordinarily tired when he came off after 60 or so minutes. It was surprising that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain didn’t start this game.. MID. Arsenal FC. ALEX IWOBI

7.1. Alexis Sanchez literally stopped moving after about 75 minutes. Hopefully he isn’t injured, hopefully he just ran out of battery. He has played three matches in a week and given his all in both, but today his teammates in charge of stopping goals were beaten for quality. Sanchez was a spectator as Raheem Sterling curled an effort into the corner. He could only be jealous about the amount of space Sterling had thanks to that pass from de Bruyne.. ST. Arsenal FC. ALEXIS SANCHEZ

ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN. 5.9. Alex Oxlade-Chaberlain had little impact after coming on. He couldn’t galvanize his teammates, and he could’t find his teammates with passes more than two times in a row before losing the ball.. SUB. Arsenal FC

Olivier Giroud didn’t seem to get involved at all. Arsene Wenger should have brought him on earlier, enough said.. SUB. Arsenal FC. OLIVIER GIROUD. 6.0

There is not a rating for Mohamed Elneny as he had such little time on the pitch.

Manchester City vs Arsenal: Complete Player Ratings

By Finn Laister-Smith | Dec 18, 2016

Arsenal fell 2-1 to a Manchester City side that came back into the game after conceding an early goal. Here is Pain In the Arsenal’s Complete Player Ratings.