Palace 0-2 Arsenal: Player ratings in full as 10-man Gunners pass Eagles to death

Arsenal

Wojciech Szczesny (66.34)

The Squawka man of the match, Szczesny kept his team in the game with a string of impressive saves in the second half.

Bacary Sagna (52.21)

Runner up to Szczesny in the man of the match rankings, Sagna was active at both ends of the pitch. He made five clearances, as well as providing width in attacking areas. The heat map below shows the areas he picked up, and he also made two key passes.

Per Mertesacker (41.52)

Mertesacker produced the kind of solid defensive performance that Arsenal fans have started to become accustomed to. He was tidy in possession, and made five clearances alongside three tackles and three interceptions.

Laurent Koscielny (45.86)

Koscielny was almost impeccable in possession, making 95% of his passes. He only misplaced three passes all game, and took until the 54th minute to do so.

Kieran Gibbs (34.97)

A solid game for Gibbs, in which he didn’t have a huge amount to do.

Mathieu Flamini (7.66)

An early injury victim, Flamini was the Squawka man of the match by performance score at the time of his injury.

Aaron Ramsey (23.95)

Capping a good performance with the assist for Arsenal’s second goal, Ramsey contributed 81 passes as the Gunners dominated possession.

Mikel Arteta (23.15)

Arteta endured a mixed afternoon in South London. Having put the Gunners ahead from the spot, and made 63 passes in his 65 minutes on the pitch, Arteta went from hero to villain with a red card. His performance score reflects his impressive early performance, and the Arsenal captain could feel somewhat aggrieved with the red card received for a tussle with Chamahk.

Santiago Cazorla (7.63)

A victim of a resolute Palace defence, Cazorla had little impact on the game. He did attempt to provide the creativity, making two successful take ons, but was often stifled by Palace’s stubborn defensive effort.

Mesut Özil (-0.41)

The only Arsenal player to receive a negative performance score, Ozil experienced a distinctly average afternoon by his own high standards.

Olivier Giroud (13.55)

Giroud should have done better with an earlier headed chance, but made no mistake with his second header – producing the goal that sealed the victory for Arsenal and put Palace’s challenge to bed. Today’s goal was the Frenchman’s fifth league goal of the season.

Subs:

Serge Gnabry (12.23)

The young German came on as a substitute for Flamini, before suffering the ignominy of then being subbed off himself. Gnabry endured a difficult afternoon as he struggled to isolate and take on any members of a resolute Palace defence.

Nacho Monreal (3)

The Spaniard completed two out of two take ons, as well as producing one key pass in a 19 minute run out on the left of midfield.

Jack Wilshere (14.01)

Bolstering the midfield in the absence of Arteta, Wilshere helped the side to close the game out in his substitute cameo. He also made 100% of his passes in the time he was on the pitch.