Arsenal 1-0 FC Zurich: Player ratings as Gunners win Europa League group

An unconvincing 1-0 win over FC Zurich on Thursday was enough to see Arsenal qualify for the Europa League round of 16 as group winners.

The Gunners opened the scoring against the run of play after the visitors had made an energetic start. Kieran Tierney’s excellent strike settled the hosts down and they were able to control proceedings up until half-time.

However, FC Zurich were always in the game while the scoreline remained 1-0 and they came close to levelling midway through the second half but Adrià Guerrero’s effort was ruled out for offside.

With PSV winning in Bodø, Group A was on a knife edge and the visitors continued to push for an equaliser as Arsenal’s threat waned.

It was a pretty dire second-half showing from the hosts, but they escaped with all three points which meant they topped Group A.

Arsenal 1-0 FC Zurich player ratings

Here are the Arsenal player ratings from their 1-0 win over FC Zurich.

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Aaron Ramsdale (GK) – 6.5/10 – Made a big save just before the visitors’ disallowed effort midway through the second half after rarely being tested. Safe hands at the death.

Ben White (RB) – 6.5/10 – Another solid display from White, who played a role in Tierney’s opener with a perfectly-timed run in behind to receive Reiss Nelson’s pass.

Rob Holding (CB) – 4.5/10 – Comfortable in the air but Holding was borderline disastrous on the ground, especially in the first half. Error-ridden and struggled to cope with the pace of Zurich’s forwards early on.

Gabriel (CB) – 6/10 – This was a pretty assured performance from Gabriel, who wasn’t heavily involved.

Kieran Tierney (LB) – 7.5/10 – Tierney proved to be the surprising match-winner as he produced yet another stellar performance down the left. His goal was superbly-taken, and Zurich had trouble dealing with his marauding runs throughout.

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