Arsenal secured back-to-back wins, this time over Cardiff City, as Lacazette stunner settles five-goal cracker.
Unai Emery will be a happy man after Arsenal secured all three points after a late Alexandre Lacazette goal settled matters as Cardiff twice equalised during the course of the match. Arsenal were off to a great start after Mustafi’s thumping header off from a corner gave his side an early lead.
Cardiff equalised through Victor Comasaro before half-time. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then scored his first goal of the season with a top effort from outside the box, but the lead only lasted for a short while before Cardiff, this time through Danny Ward equalised to set up a tense conclusion. However, Arsenal’s nerves were settled after Alexandre Lacazette’s stunning effort secured all three points, much the delight of Emery.
The game saw many ups and downs for the Arsenal side, but in the end, took all three points. Let’s see how the Arsenal stars rated in the win over Cardiff City in the Premier League.
Petr Cech – 4
A bad performance from the veteran keeper who has had an excellent start to the season so far. Gave the ball away twice and created havoc for his defence. Made only one save throughout the game and it’s debatable if he could have done more about either Cardiff goals. This performance might let Emery think of replacing Cech with new signing Bernd Leno.
Hector Bellerin – 6
A decent performance from the Spaniard, only this time he did not let anybody complain about how he played. From a neutral perspective, he had the most balanced game so far this season, with decent contributions in attack as well in defence.
Shkodran Mustafi – 7
Mustafi had three legitimate chances to score a goal, and the missed ones came on either side of his opener for the Gunners with a bullet header. In defence, he was good, but then again it wasn’t an individual problem that led to Cardiff scoring twice, but more of a group or organisational problem.
Sokratis – 6
A quality performance from the Greek defender. Despite Arsenal shipping in two goals, as we mentioned before, it is an organisational problem rather than an individual one. Both the centre-backs, as individual players look very good.
Nacho Monreal – 5.5
There was no difference between Monreal from the West Ham game and this one. He was targetted as the weak link in the defence, as time and again Cardiff attackers either outmuscled him or got past him pretty easily. He did get forward very well, but the defence is his major priority and a problem area which needs solutions.
Matteo Guendouzi – 6
Not a bad performance from the youngster, but after the first two games of the season, there are massive expectations from him. Did not put a foot wrong, neither did he win the ball back even a single time. However, he did not give anyone a reason to complain about his play style given he controlled the ball well throughout his time on the pitch. Picked up a yellow and was replaced in the second half.
Granit Xhaka – 7
Slowly getting into his stride, and against Cardiff, he showed what he could do in midfield by controlling it all throughout. He was a passing machine and also got the assist for the first game as his corner kick was dispatched by Mustafi to open the scoring for his side. Defensively he was decent as well, helping the centre-backs with some mopping up when needed.
Mesut Ozil – 6
Not a bad game for the German after rounds of criticism from various corners. Was involved in a few positive moves for the side, and almost set up a goal in the first half. His link-up play with Lacazette in the second half resulted in Aubameyang scoring Arsenal’s second goal. He is slowly coming back to his usual self, and few more games could do the trick.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7.5
Finally scored his first goal of the season after frustrating in the first few games. With Emery placing him on the left side of attack, he did well to link up with Lacazette and overall this combination produced the results Arsenal wanted.
Aaron Ramsey – 7.5
A top class performance from Ramsey in the No.10 position. Although in the starting lineup his position seemed on the right side but played centrally all throughout the game. A constant threat for Cardiff defenders as Ramsey kept trying different ways to get past them as well as the hunger to score or assist a goal was quite visible.
Alexandre Lacazette – 8
For all the hype, it was a worthy enough performance! Lacazette started his first game of the season and was the reason Arsenal went home with all three points. Provided the assist for Aubameyang’s goal and then with the scores tied at 2-2, scored a stunner to silence the Cardiff crowd. It makes him a sure-shot starter for Arsenal’s next.
Substitutes –
Lucas Torreira – 7
If one has to sum up his performances, despite only being for about half-hour on the pitch would be to call it complete. The Uruguayan midfielder came on, and immediately Arsenal became so much better in defence, as he went into challenges and got the ball many times. On the other end of the pitch, Torreira provided a beautiful assist for Lacazette to score the crucial third goal.
Danny Welbeck – N/A
Very less time on the pitch, as he was set to bring some energy on the wings to defend.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – N/A
Sent on really late and did have only a handful of minutes.
