Arsenal player ratings vs Rangers: Nuno Tavares nets in 2-2 draw

Arsenal took on Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday for the second of their pre-season clashes in Scotland, drawing 2-2 with goals from Nuno Tavares and Eddie Nketiah.

Player ratings in pre-season. Almost entirely meaningless but nonetheless enjoyable since watching Arsenal is our bread and butter and it’s tough to avoid any fixture without an analytical hat on.

Mikel Arteta opted to ring the changes from the Hibernian defeat and fielded a strong side in Glasgow. Arthur Okonkwo kept his spot in goal while Folarin Balogun was handed a start up front, yet it was a non-competitive debut for Nuno Tavares that piqued everyone’s excitement.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continued the trend of the strikers getting their big misses out of their systems nice and early with an early chance, before a poorly defended set piece presented Leon Balogun with an unmarked header he angled beyond Okonkwo well.

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Arsenal player ratings vs Rangers at Ibrox as Nuno Tavares scores on his debut in 2-2 pre-season draw at Ibrox

Arsenal did get themselves level with a debut goal from Tavares, and a fine one at that. Rob Holding lofted a ball wide to him and he sneaked ahead of his marker before shifting the ball onto his right and finishing neatly from a tight angle.

There were also a couple more sitters missed from Aubameyang as the visitors dominated.

As the trend continued after the break, all the positive elements of the performance were undone by yet another goal conceded from a corner.

Eddie Nketiah drew the Gunners back on level terms with a clever individual effort as he closed down possession in the box and then struck a low effort in at the near post wrong-footing the goalkeeper. No more goals followed and the spoils were shared.

Now for some mostly meaningless player ratings!

Arsenal Goalkeeper & Defenders Ratings

Arthur Okonkwo (GK) – 6/10 – Had…nothing to do. Which given how the first game went will have suited nicely.

Cedric Soares (RB) – 6/10 – Beaten down his side a few times too many times. Bent in a lovely cross for Aubameyang that he should have got an assist for. Lacking match sharpness.

Rob Holding (CB) – 6/10 – First game back is always going to mean some rustiness and it was evident in Holding’s distribution. Got the assist for Tavares, mind you. A combination nobody really expected. Made some good clearances in the box.

Pablo Mari (CB) – 6/10 – Committed an unsavoury challenge that rightly earned him a yellow card but was otherwise solid. Some strong reading of the play and a few neat standing tackles.

Nuno Tavares (LB) – 8/10 – What a goal! Tavares marked his debut with a delightfully taken strike, one that topped off a fairly comfortable outing. Always made himself available and played down the line well. Composed in possession.

Arsenal Midfielders Ratings

Thomas Partey (CM) – 7/10 – With Elneny in the team it allows Partey to push a few yards further forward and he picked out a few delightful passes in between full-back and centre-back and showed good feet in the centre of the park.

Mohamed Elneny (CM) – 6/10 – Didn’t do an awful lot wrong, as ever, but was guilty of losing his man for Rangers’ goal when he was caught napping at a corner.

Emile Smith Rowe (AM) – 7/10 – Lively throughout and was allowed to pick up spaces in wide areas and through the middle in an interchanging three behind the goal. Looks in good shape as witnessed with a few clever runs. Classy as ever.

Arsenal Forwards Ratings

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (LW) – 4/10 – It’s only pre-season which is why low marks are no fun at all to dish out but you can’t make a case for anything higher (should be less but we’re being kind) having missed the three chances he had. Get them out of the system nice and early for the Premier League, right? At least his movement was alright.

Folarin Balogun (ST) – 6/10 – Got moved out to the left for large periods almost mirroring what Arsene Wenger used to do with younger players to help them develop other parts of their game.

Showed strong physicality and he’s someone who thrives on winning duels, which he did plenty. There were a few wrong decisions in the final third but he pressed well and came close to grabbing a goal when Allan McGregor saved his poked shot.

Nicolas Pepe (RW) – 6/10 – A few poor deliveries to go alongside a few threatening ones, it’s encouraging to see Pepe looking sharp early into pre-season.

Arsenal Substitutes Ratings

Karl Hein – 6/10 – Had…nothing to do. Except for one decent save from close range. Got down well.

Hector Bellerin – 6/10 – Ran plenty after coming on and made numerous inviting overlaps. Superb tache he’s grown.

Calum Chambers – 6/10 – Looked comfortable at centre-back and found Bellerin well on a few occasions.

Kieran Tierney – 5/10 – Not the 45 minutes he would have liked on his return to the home of his arch rivals. Having only had a few training sessions after returning from his break he’ll need a bit longer to get up to speed.

Alexandre Lacazette – 6/10 – A few very neat lay-offs and got Arsenal ticking in the early stages of the second half.

Sead Kolasinac – 6/10 – Didn’t do all too much wrong. Tried to honour Olivier Giroud’s Premier League career with a late scorpion effort.

Eddie Nketiah – 6/10 – Tried dropping deep to collect possession in the left channel but didn’t have too much joy. Abandoned that approach and then got the equaliser after showing good endeavour in the box with a clever finish at the near post.

Reiss Nelson – 7/10 – plenty of suitors this summerReally sharp introduction from Nelson who beat his man a fair few times and invited bodies around him. Good footwork. Already has and will thrive with regular minutes.

Willian – 6/10 – Realising he can’t run, the overlaps were left to everyone else and Willian hung around in the half-spaces where he laid off a few neat passes.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 7/10 – A very nice cameo from Maitlad-Niles who took control of the game after coming on and spread some nice passes into wide areas. Best of the substitutes on the day.

Joe Willock – 6/10 – Wasn’t heavily involved as he sat furthest deep of the midfielders to support the centre-backs. Even drifted out to the left