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In a game of little quality and few chances, it was Arsenal who came out victors in the Group H clash. An exquisite overhead kick from Olivier Giroud was enough to give Arsenal all 3 points in the Rajko Miti? Stadium.
A 1-0 win for the Gunners sees them firmly establish themselves as the top team in Group H, as they’ve won three out of three games. The win also allows Arsène Wenger to appreciate the depth of his squad as it was a completely weakened XI he put out.
Here’s how the players on either rated:
Red Star Belgrade
Milan Borjan: 6/10
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The Canadian was probably expecting a hard night’s graft, instead, he only had to make 4 saves all game. His goal was rather untested throughout the 90 minutes and the only effort to beat him was a wonder strike from Olivier Giroud.
Filip Stojkovi?: 5/10
The 24-year-old did his best to venture forward all game but the lack of support from his teammates made his job impossible. In the end, Stojkovi? was overrun by the powerful Maitland-Niles.
Vujadin Savi?: 6.5/10
Savi? was a solid rock at the back all game. The 27-year-old physically bullied Olivier Giroud during the 90 minutes, winning 2 aerial duels. On top of that, he had to watch out for the exploits of Jack Wilshere who constantly tried running at him.
Damien Le Tallec: 5/10
Unlike his Centre-back partner, Tallec struggled to deal with the movement of Arsenal. At times he found himself completely overrun by Arsenal’s midfield runners as his positioning was easy to take advantage of.
Milan Rodi?: 3/10
Not only did Rodi? get annihilated by Reiss Nelson all game, he got himself sent off in the last 10 minutes. Even though Arsenal had more quality than Red Star Belgrade, that sending off firmly tipped the odds in the Gunners’ favour.
Slavoljub Srni?: 4/10
Ineffective, toothless and passive, Srni? did not contribute at all to Belgrade’s attacking play. Throughout the game, he only made 18 passes in total and didn’t attempt one shot on goal.
Guélor Kanga: 5/10
The 27-year-old spent most of the game cutting off passing lanes and chasing Josh Willock. Clearly the CM was not instructed to get forward at all, instead, his role was to help his team off the ball.
Mitchell Donald: 5/10
The central defensive midfielder tried his best to mark Jack Wilshere all game but failed woefully in tracking the Englishman. He found himself chasing shadows all game and looked totally out of place.
Nenad Krsti?i?: 7/10
Krsti?i? was the main driver of Belgrade’s build-up play, constantly driving through the middle. The 27-year-old maintained an 89% pass accuracy and created 2 chances for his teammates.
Nemanja Radonji?: 4/10
The youngster tried his best to affect the game from the left wing but instead found himself isolated out wide. The winger created no chances neither did he attempt any shots on goal.
Richmond Boakye: 6/10
The isolated forward was everywhere all game, because of his isolation, he kept dropping deep to connect with his teammates. He was daring in his movement and bold with his attempted passes. If the others were on his wavelength, Belgrade could have certainly rescued a point.
Substitutions:
Srdjan Babic: 6/10
Babic did his best to change the game after coming on in the 66th minute. The 21-year-old maintained a 92% pass accuracy, trying to force things to happen against Arsenal.
Aleksander Pesic: N/A
The striker did his best to offer something different in the last 10 minutes but to no avail.
Marko Gobeljic – N/A
It’s no surprise that Gobeljic maintained a 100% pass accuracy as he only played for 10 minutes.
Arsenal
Petr Cech: 6/10
When called upon, the 34-year-old keeper was always up to par. Before the game, he might have felt he wouldn’t have to do much, but instead, due to the porous defence in front of him, he had to make 3 crucial saves.
Mathieu Debuchy: 5.5/10
For his first appearance in 11 months, the Frenchman was adequate for the Gunners tonight. On top of that, Arsène Wenger decided to play the full-back at RCB, to which he adjusted well.
Mohamed Elneny: 6/10
Out of position and out of form, Mohamed Elneny showed the Arsenal faithful why the boss has so much faith in him. He adjusted well to being in a back three and pushed forward several times to bolster up the midfield.
Rob Holding: 6/10
The young Englishman was a calming presence at the back for the Gunners. In front of a sold out Rajko Miti? stadium, Holding ensured he maintained his positioning in line with Arsenal’s attacking play.
Reiss Nelson: 7/10
The 17-year-old has been somewhat of a revelation ever since he debuted in the Emirates Cup. In his third Europa League start of the year, the youngster shone brightly as Arsenal’s only attacking threat of the game. He tirelessly ran up and down the flank, looking to create 2v1s with Theo Walcott at every opportunity.
Francis Coquelin: 6/10
Francis Coquelin did all game what he does best, win the ball back and circulate possession. It’s not a special skillset but it’s just what Arsène Wenger demands of him.
Joseph Willock: 5/10
In his first senior start for the club, the youngster basically faded into the background as the lights shone too bright for him. His passing was wayward and his positioning was naive, however, he’ll learn bucket loads from the experience.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 5.5/10
Maitland-Niles did his best to surge into the final third but his attacking contribution just wasn’t up to par. There were several times where Olivier Giroud was left visibly frustrated by the youngster’s inability to find him with a cross. In his defence, the 20-year-old wasn’t playing on his favoured side.
Theo Walcott: 5/10
Although he got himself into many favourable attacking positions, Theo Walcott was very poor in his final third contribution. He reminded Arsenal fans why he doesn’t ever feature in the Premier League. Don’t let his assist for Giroud fool you, that was all made by the genius of Jack Wilshere.
Jack Wilshere: 8/10
Just as Reiss Nelson was Arsenal’s main attacking spark, Jack Wilshere was Arsenal’s hub of creativity. Everything good through the middle came at the feet of the Englishman as he constantly drove at the heart of the Red Star Belgrade defence.
The 25-year-old had 64 touches of the ball, completed 5 dribbles, created 2 chances and made 25 accurate passes in the final third. Not to mention he was instrumental in creating Arsenal’s only goal of the game.
Olivier Giroud: 6/10
The Frenchman often cut a lonely and frustrated figure up front. He wanted to hold up play but his touch was often poor meaning he lost the ball instead. However, in such typical Giroud fashion, after a poor game, he came up with a moment of brilliance to settle the game for the Gunners. And at the end of the day as a striker that’s his job, to decide games.
Substitutions:
Marcus McGuane – N/A
In the 89th minute, the central midfielder gained a few minutes of play but he wasn’t able to affect the game.
Ben Sheaf – N/A
The 19-year-old was able to make his senior debut for the club but didn’t have enough time to make an impact.
