Jack Wilshere may have stolen the plaudits with his first ever double in Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Marseille, but that didn’t stop Aaron Ramsey dominating possession in the heart of the Gunners’ midfield yet again. The Welsh star has been in scintillating form this season and, while he couldn’t add to his impressive goal tally against the French side, he still managed to dictate play as Arsene Wenger’s men closed in on qualification for the knock-out stages.
Perhaps the most telling statistic from Ramsey’s performance on Tuesday was the amount of time he spent on the ball. Of his 110 attempted passes, the former Cardiff youngster completed an impressive 97 (88%).
Although his pass accuracy was slightly less than six other Arsenal players who made the starting XI, Ramsey made significantly more passes than goal hero Wilshere (38) and trumped his fellow midfielders Mesut Ozil, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky too.
As well as controlling much of the game, Ramsey also had an impact on Arsenal’s attacking play. The 22-year-old’s driving run into the Marseille box led to him being brought down for a penalty, although Ozil failed to convert the spot-kick.
Ramsey created one of the Gunners’ 12 goalscoring opportunities, playing a perfect through ball to Olivier Giroud who saw his low effort deflected just wide of Steve Mandanda’s near post. He also played a part in his side’s second goal, giving the ball to Ozil who picked out Wilshere to seal three points.
And he should’ve got on the scoresheet himself during the first half when he squandered a close-range opportunity to put the hosts 2-0 up. His other attempt at goal flew harmlessly wide, leaving him with a shot accuracy of exactly 50%.
But while Ramsey excelled with the ball at his feet, he was uncharacteristically poor defensively.
The one-time Manchester United target didn’t manage a single defensive action at the Emirates and came out on top in just 40% of his 15 tackles, a noticeably worse return than his 55% average in Premier League games this season.
In the air he won just one of his three headed duels, again a lower percentage than his domestic average.
Ramsey has established himself as arguably the best all-round midfielder in the English top-flight this season, a player capable of scoring goals, providing them for his team-mates and helping to stop them flying past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
His ability with the ball at his feet was clear for all to see against Elie Baup’s side but – maybe because of the lacklustre opposition, or perhaps the presence of the destructive Flamini alongside him – his defensive play wasn’t up to his early-season standard.
Either way, Ramsey will need to get back to his battling best when he returns to his former club Cardiff on Saturday. Malky Mackay’s men are sure to put up more of a fight than Marseille.