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Arsenal Vs Southampton: Player Ratings – Danny Welbeck Returns

By Andrew Dowdeswell

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: Danny Welbeck of Arsenal chips Harry Lewis of Southampton to score his sides first goal during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary's Stadium on January 28, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: Danny Welbeck of Arsenal chips Harry Lewis of Southampton to score his sides first goal during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary's Stadium on January 28, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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Arsenal demolished Southampton to the tune of a five-goal margin. Here are the player ratings from Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round victory.

Arsene Wenger rung the changes for Saturday’s trip to Southampton in the fourth-round of the FA Cup, resting the likes of Alexis Sanchez (for the most part), Mesut Ozil and Laurent Koscielny. The team did not play like it, though. Arsenal were excellent throughout, solid at the back, creative in midfield and ruthless in the final third.

Related Story: Arsenal Vs Southampton: Recap, Highlights And Analysis

Here are the player ratings from the 5-0 victory.

Arsenal. DAVID OSPINA. 6.0. A couple of shaky moments from the Colombian shot-stopper but also made a few decent saves and claimed a couple of crosses well. Still very much behind Petr Cech in the pecking order, though.. GK

Arsenal. HECTOR BELLERIN. 7.0. Wonderful to see the pacy Spaniard back in the starting lineup. Provides attacking width with his relentless overlapping runs and gives the side balance without sacrificing any defensive solidarity.. DEF

DEF. Arsenal. ROB HOLDING. 8.0. Efficient. Sound. Reliable. Quietly, Rob Holding was tremendous against Southampton. He is always calm and composed on the ball, is positionally aware and boasts the physical attributes to handle the challenges that English football provides.

DEF. Arsenal FC. SHKODRAN MUSTAFI. 7.5. Not quite as a consummate as his partner but still brings wonderful leadership anchoring the heart of the defence. His and Laurent Koscielny’s partnership is one of the biggest positives to come out of this whole season.

Arsenal. KIERAN GIBBS. 6.5. Looked a little rusty when pushing forward having spent the last month on the sidelines but provides Wenger with an option to rotate he and Nacho Monreal throughout the year, keeping both fresh.. DEF

7.5. Very tidy performance from Maitland-Niles. He’s far more suited to a central role than when he played full-back against Preston in the previous round and wins back possession with great frequency. Complimented the attack-minded Oxlade-Chamberlain well.. MID. Arsenal. AINSLEY MAITLAND-NILES

9.0. MAN OF THE MATCH: Oustanding display from the Ox. His passing was excellent, playing numerous longer, floated balls in behind the Southampton defence. Played a lovely assist for Danny Welbeck’s second goal and showed a greater retention of the ball that he has been criticised for in recent years.. MID. Arsenal. ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN

7.5. A very fluid and composed player. Excellent on the ball with a lovely spacial awareness and intelligence, capable of unpicking tightly packed defences. Won’t get the headlines like Welbeck or Walcott but this was a very promising display indeed.. MID. Arsenal. JEFF REINE-ADELAIDE

THEO WALCOTT. 8.5. Scored a hat-trick on his return. Will obviously be buoyed by the performance and showed a clinical nature in front of goal that highlighted his early season form that was so wonderful to watch. Could be a major contributor against Chelsea in a week’s time.. MID. Arsenal

8.5. Outstanding from Danny Welbeck. Both his goals were excellently taken, showed a burst and a willingness to run in behind and linked up with Lucas Perez very well indeed. Very nice to see him back in the lineup once more.. MID. Arsenal FC. DANNY WELBECK

This might have been Perez’s best performance since his summer move. Whilst he didn’t get on the scoresheet, he showed adept spatial awareness, enjoyed some wonderful deft touches and later played an excellent pass down the left flank for Alexis Sanchez which eventually set up Theo for his third goal.. ST. Arsenal. LUCAS PEREZ. 8.5

Arsenal FC. ALEXIS SANCHEZ. 8.0. Was electric in a central position again. Racked up two assists showing good vision and patience. Will be interesting to see if Wenger now drops Giroud or keeps Sanchez out wide.. MID

There was no rating for Alex Iwobi given the state of the game at that time and lack of playing time he partook in.