Arsenal player ratings vs Chelsea: Emile Smith Rowe secures win

Arsenal secured a vital win against Chelsea in the Premier League on Wednesday as Emile Smith Rowe’s first half goal lifted the spirits in north London considerably with a battling three points.

Mikel Arteta made wholesale changes from the previous victory over West Brom, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the line, Thomas Partey coming into midfield and Kieran Tierney making his first Premier League start since recovering from injury.

A relatively tame start from both sides was starved of clear cut chances, with Arsenal and Chelsea sharing possession without much cutting edge.

Jorginho, however, proved himself to be worth every penny the Gunners spent for him in the summer with an atrocious back pass to Kepa that had the goalkeeper scrambling to clear it out. He managed to do so but only into the path of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who laid it into Emile Smith Rowe’s path and he scuffed an effort in off the post.

Arsenal player ratings vs Chelsea as Emile Smith Rowe scores only goal in 1-0 Premier League win

Bernd Leno was called into action with a few crosses and a couple of blocks followed, as Arsenal stood firm in their defensive shape.

The Blues dominated possession after the break as Arsenal had no out-ball to relieve the pressure. Chelsea did have the ball in the net with half and hour to go, but Christian Pulisic was rightly ruled out for offside.

A tactical swap from Thomas Tuchel helped Arsenal in many ways, as the target man option opened up avenues for the Gunners to play out. Thomas Partey came into his own and added control in midfield, while the substitution of Hector Bellerin gave Arsenal threat at wing-back.

An excellent and organised display won them the points against an admittedly out of sorts Chelsea – who still had Giroud hit the bar twice in the same action – a win which significantly lifts the mood and keeps a UEFA Europa Conference League spot in sight.

Arsenal Goalkeeper & Defenders Ratings

Bernd Leno (GK) – 8/10 – Solid with his hands all night be it from wide deliveries, low takes or shots, and would score higher were it not for his kicking to be weak all night. There wasn’t much to aim for, but even still he rarely found his target. Showed what he can do, though, with a magnificent save in the dying embers.

Rob Holding (CB) – 8/10 – Nothing new when it comes to Rob Holding who can’t play down the line at all. On the ball his distribution is poor and there is nothing in a progressive sense that helps Arsenal.

Does most of the ‘defender’ things well but offered little beyond the classic centre-back profile. Positionally, however, he was sound and arguably the pick of the defensive trio. Stood strong all night.

Pablo Mari (CB) – 7/10 – Had a Shkodran Mustafi moment in the first half where he misread the situation horribly, only to be spared by Kai Havertz’s wastefulness. Improved from there and was the least shaky on the ball of the three.

Gabriel (CB) – 7/10 – Sloppy on the ball and relatively nervous off it, although that changed after the break. It’s evident he needs a run of games under his belt and not chopping and changing, which if Arsenal plan on trusting their investments, will happen. Still, his passing was pretty poor all night.

In a game where it was all about clearing and blocking, he did all that very well.