Manchester City 6-3 Arsenal: Player Ratings

Manchester City

Costel Pantilimon (-27): Preferred to Joe Hart, but was rooted to the spot for Arsenal’s opening goal as he became the first City goalkeeper to concede three goals at the Etihad since December.

Pablo Zabaleta (10): Showed sublime feet to control Yaya Toure’s ball forward and square for Negredo to score City’s second goal.

Kompany (13): Surprisingly, Kompany completed five take-ons. This was more than any other player on the pitch and included three in Arsenal’s half of the pitch.

Martin Demichelis (32): Provided the flick for Sergio Aguero to open the scoring , as well as four interceptions and four clearances.

Gael Clichy (7): Had the lowest pass completion rate (74%) of any outfield City player.

Fernandinho (91): Fernandinho had not hit the target with any of the four shots that he had taken before today, but scored his first goal of the season with his first shot on target of the season. The Squawka Man of the Match, he produced three shots on target over the course of the game.

Yaya Touré (30): Bossed the midfield physically with three successful take-ons and three headed duels won, and also peppered the Arsenal goal with five attempts.

Samir Nasri (83): Impressive throughout, but turned up a gear in the closing stages. He produced four key passes, including the assist for Fernandinho’s second goal, all of which came in the last 17 minutes of the game.

David Silva (46): Made more passes than any Arsenal player at a 90% completion rate, as well as getting his name on the scoresheet. All in all a successful league comeback from injury.

Alvaro Negredo (42): Linked up well with Aguero as Arsenal struggled to deal with City’s attacking threat, and deservedly got a goal.

Sergio Agüero (37): Opened the scoring with a sublime finish before having his afternoon cut short by a knock.

Substitutes:

Jesús Navas (19): Made 93% of his passes after coming on as a substitute, misplacing only two of 25 attempted.

Milner (-22): Won the penalty, but had little other impact with only seven passes.

Javi Garcia (4): Touched the ball twice in his brief cameo, making one tackle and one pass.

Arsenal:

Szczesny (-107): Exposed by his defence there was little that he could do to stop the rout, although the last of several rushes of blood to the head saw him give away the penalty that led to City’s 6th.

Bacary Sagna (-7): Put four crosses into the box, one of which was tucked away by Per Mertesacker.

Sagna Crosses

Nacho Monreal (-45): Made four successful tackles and two interceptions.

Per Mertesacker (20): On the scoresheet with a late header, Mertesacker was one of Arsenal’s better players and made 11 clearances.

Laurent Koscielny (10): Made five clearances and one tackle before his early exit through injury.

Mathieu Flamini (15): Put himself about with three first half tackles, but struggled to deal with the dynamism of Yaya Toure and Fernandinho.

Aaron Ramsey (37): Tried to make things happen with 53 passes – the most of any Arsenal player

Walcott (73): Scored two goals from five attempts on an explosive return to the starting eleven.

Mesut Özil (7): Outshone by Manchester City’s attacking midfield players, Ozil did provide the assist for Walcott’s first goal but was otherwise quiet.

Jack Wilshere (-5): Attempted to go past his man five times, but only managed it once.

Olivier Giroud (3): Was disappointing once again, failing to hit the target with any of his three shots on goal.

Subs:

Nicklas Bendtner (12): Thought he had pulled a goal back for Arsenal, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.

Thomas Vermaelen (-10): Thrust into a barrage of City attacks, Vermaelen only made one clearance on a difficult afternoon in Manchester.

Serge Gnabry (9): Had little impact, but did complete one take on