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3. Give Kolasinac credit

It was frustrating to see Kieran Tierney sitting on the bench for the second of Freddie Ljungberg’s games in charge. He has shown his quality in brief outings and is the long-term starter at left-back. So why is he not playing now? Well, let’s give his replacement the credit he deserves.

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Sead Kolasinac can be an infuriating watch. His bulldozing style belies his actual effectiveness: he looks very busy, industrious, powerful and impactful, but actually, his efforts are minimised with a lack of technical quality, poor decision-making and defensive vulnerabilities. But on Thursday night, he was excellent, one of Arsenal’s only positive performances.

He ploughed up and down the left flank with terrific speed and directness, delivered several excellent crosses into the box, an aspect of his game that usually falls short, and defended bravely and smartly also. Only once did he make a glaring error, not shutting down a cross with a half-hearted press.

Does this now mean that Kolasinac deserves to be Arsenal’s starting left-back? No, of course it doesn’t. And that Ljungberg still swapped his left-backs in the second half demonstrates this point. But this was a good performance from Bosnian, one he deserves to be praised for.