Arsenal Vs Preston North End: Complete Player Ratings

Arsenal began their FA Cup campaign travelling to Preston North End. Here are all the complete player ratings from the 2-1 win.

That was wholly undeserved. On multiple occasions, Arsenal have hauled themselves out of first half goals. Once again, after a dismal first 45-minute display, Olivier Giroud popped up with a crucial late goal, poking past Chris Maxwell after an exquisite Lucas Perez backheel, confirming the Gunners place in the fourth round of the FA Cup for the 21st consecutive season under Arsene Wenger.

Here are the complete player ratings from the 2-1 win and some of them are not pretty,

DAVID OSPINA. 6.0. Could do little with the goal. Made the saves he had to make but didn’t do anything spectacular either. A perfectly competent cup goalkeeper, though I’m still not a fan of the rotation between he and Petr Cech.. GK. Arsenal FC

Arsenal FC. AINSLEY MAITLAND-NILES. 5.5. Struggled hugely in the first half. Was lackadaisical in possession and caught out of position on numerous occasions. However, he didn’t get much help, improved as the game went along and is perhaps better served in a central midfield role.. RB

Terrible. As one of the more senior members of the team, in a vociferous atmosphere against a scrappy team, he should have been calm and composed. Instead, he was rash, unpredictable and repeatedly made poor decisions, especially in stupidly trying to play an offside trao. Has looked good recently and must get back to that form.. DEF. Arsenal FC. GABRIEL PAULISTA. 3.5

5.0. Better than his partner but still looks rusty. Distribution was poor, especially in the first half, but did make a few timely blocks and interceptions, as well as making a crucial clearance off the line when at 1-0 down.. CB. Arsenal FC. SHKODRAN MUSTAFI

4.5. Did provide the cross that led to Aaron Ramsey’s goal in the second half but was yet again exposed defensively. Positionally, his experience is seemingly useless. He struggles against pace and was horrifically unaware of the danger for Preston’s goal.. LB. Arsenal FC. NACHO MONREAL

Scored a good goal. Began to pull the strings in the second half, but other than that, did little positive worth noting. Has a chance to prove his quality over the coming weeks but must be far better than on Saturday.. MID. Arsenal FC. AARON RAMSEY. 6.5

5.0. Passing was dreadfully poor in the first half. Looks very slow, struggling to handle the pace of English football. Needs to improve quickly given the injuries that Arsenal have at the position.. MID. Arsenal FC. GRANIT XHAKA

5.0. Like many others, looked more dangerous late in the game and did well for Ramsey’s goal, showing quick feet in holding the ball up and intelligence to lay the ball off for the Welshman, but does still need to be far more consistent on the ball, however.. MID. Arsenal FC. ALEX IWOBI

4.0. Utterly woeful from the Ox. Didn’t look interested in the first half, failed to beat anyone with any semblance of regularity and lacked the same directness that made him so dangerous earlier in the year.. MID. Arsenal FC. ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN

7.0. MAN OF THE MATCH: Defensively did not help out a young full-back in the first half, but offensively, was the most dangerous throughout the match. Provided a couple of lovely dinked passes, one for Giroud in which he scored but was offside, and of course, executed a backheel perfectly for the eventual goal.. MID. Arsenal. LUCAS PEREZ

6.5. Very similar to the performance against Bournemouth; struggled to hold onto the ball in the first half, meaning that his team were under relentless pressure, but grew into the game. Provided a focal point for the attack in the second half and yet again scored a crucially late goal.. ST. Arsenal FC. OLIVIER GIROUD

There was no rating for Danny Welbeck, Jeff Reine-Adelaide or Rob Holding given their lack of game time, though it was lovely to see Welbeck back on the field once again.