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#3 Ainsley Maitland-Niles starts
Reports emerged earlier in the week that Ainsley Maitland-Niles has his heart set on leaving in the summer due to his belief that the manager doesn’t have faith in him. Today, the manager responded by trusting him to start in the club’s biggest game of the season.
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Then the youngster responded with a performance of the highest quality. Up against a tricky Riyad Mahrez, the Englishman stuck to his defensive duties well, timing his tackles to perfection.
Despite everyone knowing that he prefers to play as a central midfielder, Maitland-Niles did a job for his team at LWB when his manager needed him most. He was deployed in this position because being right-footed, Arteta knew the youngster would have a better chance at stopping Mahrez who often prefers to cut in. In a faultless display, the 22-year-old made 5 clearances, 2 tackles and completed 3 successful take-ons.
#2 David Luiz aka Alessandro Nesta
Upon the commencement of project restart, David Luiz was the headline news coming out of the opening day. The Brazilian was the sole reason why City would beat Arsenal 3-0 as he made an error leading to a goal and then got himself sent off after conceding a penalty. Today, the 33-year-old came full circle to put in a man of the match display to keep a clean sheet against the best-attacking team in England.
In the heart of the defence, Luiz made a colossal 11 clearances, 4 interceptions and was not dribbled past once. The centre-back marshalled those around him and put in a performance that justifies his manager’s decision to extend his contract. On his day, David Luiz would be an asset to any team in the world, he proved that today.
#1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: a big-game player
Who was it that said Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang doesn’t score in big games? Well whoever they were, they were wrong. In a match where his team needed him to be at his absolute best, the Arsenal captain scored a brace against arguably the best team in Europe.
Up on the left flank, Aubameyang stationed himself on the shoulder of the last defender, looking to constantly get in behind. But that was only when Arsenal had the ball. When they didn’t, he was tracking back to stop crosses from Kyle Walker. His final third movement terrorised City’s backline as they struggled to cope with his timing of runs and pace when in possession.
Both of the 31-year-old’s goals came from the left flank and required finishing of the highest order. In a performance worthy of the armband, Aubameyang made 1 interception, 27 passes, attempted 3 shots and scored 2 game-changing goals.
