Arsenal 2-0 Cardiff: Key Stats and Player Ratings

Arsenal

Szczesny (45): Made two saves to protect his ninth clean sheet of the Premier League season.

Sagna (38): Produced three shots on goal and was far more involved going forward than defending as Arsenal dominated, as shown by his heat map below

Mertesacker (49): Missed two good chances to give Arsenal the lead, taking three shots on goal overall, and made 93% of his attempted passes.

Koscielny (79): Completed 53 of his 56 attempted passes, a success rate of 95%.

Monreal (64): Produced nine clearances and five crosses.

Flamini (31): Protected his back four with three headed duels and five clearances.

Arteta (13): Arteta made 88 passes over the course of the afternoon, more than any other player on the pitch and a success rate of 97%, although only two of these produced chances.

Walcott (65): Heavily involved in Arsenal’s attacking play, Walcott put 13 crosses into the Cardiff box and capped his performance with the Gunners’ second goal.

Wilshere (72): Restored to a central position, Wilshere impressed with four chance creating passes and three attempts on goal. He also completed seven of 11 attempted take ons.

Cazorla (58): Cazorla attempted five take ons, completing four of them.

Podolski (20): Started up front in the absence of the injured Olivier Giroud, but only managed to take one shot on goal.

Substitutes:

Vermaelen (2): Not on for long enough to judge.

Bendtner (47) : Set Arsenal on their way with the opening goal, but saw his afternoon end on a sour note as he succumbed to injury.

Rosicky (-11): Completed 77% of his passes.

Cardiff City

Marshall (-40): Desperately unlucky to see his clean sheet disappear having produced a good save from Bacary Sagna in the build up to Bendtner’s opener.

McNaughton (-18): Attempted seven tackles but was successful in just two of them.

Caulker (8): Made seven clearances over the course of the game.

Turner (-14): Completed nine clearances, but won just one of three headed duels contested.

John (-12): Only made nine passes, but produced one key pass.

Medel (-1): Typically tidy in possession, Medel made 95% of the 39 passes that he attempted.

Noone (-39): Only managed seven passes – a success rate of just 50% from the 14 that he attempted.

Kim (-18): Made 19 of 24 passes.

Mutch (21): Made four tackles – 40% of Cardiff’s total.

Whittingham (-12): Only misplaced one pass, but was a peripheral figure and did little with the ball. Just 7 of his 29 passes were forwards.

Campbell (8): Caused problems with his pace but didn’t manage to get a shot away.

Substitutes:

Gunnarsson (6): Only attempted four passes, but made all of them.

Cowie (6): Made 60% of his passes and completed one take on.

Maynard (6): On for 10 minutes and managed one shot at goal.

Ratings calculated using the Squawka Performance Score