It was a game of 10 men against 11 – yet another repeat story of frustration and deja vu for Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal side who lost 1-0 to Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium as Per Mertesacker received a red card in the 17th minute. A familiar tale for the Gunners who have somehow again come out second best against Chelsea.
It was a definite setback for Arsenal as they always seem to have bad luck against the Blues. The north London side have failed to score against the Blues in the league for nine-and-a-half hours now. After this result, they drop to third while Guus Hiddink’s side move up to 13th with 28 points – one behind Everton.
Here are the player ratings from the game.
Arsenal
Petr Cech – 7/10
Cech couldn’t have been blamed for Costa’s goal and made a few good saves. In spite of being one man down and just letting Chelsea score one goal is a job well done.
Hector Bellerin – 7/10
Bellerin did all he could to keep Arsenal in the game and made no significant or noticeable mistakes. He also did decently going forward.
Laurent Koscielny – 4.5/10
The Frenchman got extremely lucky to have gotten away without a definite penalty for a horrendous challenge on Cesc Fabregas in the area. In spite of Mertesacker being sent off, it was quite crazy how he made that challenge. He also got beaten by Costa for the opening goal and did absolutely nothing to stop it.
Per Mertesacker – 3/10
Mertesacker received a deserved and clear red card for a challenge on Diego Costa. He couldn’t keep up with the pace of the Blues striker and wasn’t even looking at the ball when he made the challenge. An inevitable red.
Nacho Monreal – 6/10
Monreal didn’t have a good game at all as he just couldn’t deal with Chelsea’s pace, especially from Willian. But he did well to deny the Blues a second goal with a header on the goal line.
Mathieu Flamini – 4/10
Flamini confused Koscielny during Costa’s goal and because of the movement and confusion, Costa managed to score. He had a good chance before half time which went much over the bar and was booked after a few tackles.
Aaron Ramsey – 7/10
Ramsey was one of the few Arsenal players who played quite well. He rose to the occasion and tried to take control of the game.
Joel Campbell – 6/10
Campbell deserved to stay on the pitch for longer than he did but was substituted in the 58th minute for Alexis Sanchez. However, with Mertesacker booked, he lost his momentum.
Mesut Ozil – 5/10
The German did not have a good game and did not step up when he needed to against a physical team. He was quite invisible for most parts of the game.
Theo Walcott – 5.5/10
Wearing the captain’s armband and upsetting a lot of fans, Walcott was another player to have not had a good game. His good moments are too irregular to warrant the game time he receives.
Olivier Giroud – 5/10
It was a shock decision to have had the in-form supposed leader of the attack taken off in the 22nd minute for Gabriel after Mertesacker was sent off. Giroud barely had any time on the pitch.
Substitutes
Gabriel – 7/10
Gabriel came on for Giroud in the 21st minute and did well in place of Mertesacker. However, he didn’t do anything to stop Costa from scoring.
Alexis Sanchez – 8/10
Arsenal’s man of the match was Sanchez after he came on for Campbell in the 58th minute. With him on the field, the team looked recouped and dangerous and looked like they might have had a chance to equalise.
Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain – N/A
Chamberlain came on for Walcott in the 74th minute but didn’t have much of an impact on the game.
Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois – 6/10
Courtois fussed at a cross in the second half twice but did a good job to maintain a clean sheet. Apart from that, he barely had much to do throughout the game.
Branislav Ivanovic – 7/10
Ivanovic had one of his better matches today with a fabulous cross to assist Costa’s goal. It was a quality assist.
Kurt Zouma – 7/10
Zouma also had a good match and made a vital block in the second half.
John Terry – 7/10
The Chelsea captain managed the pace of Arsenal well and marshalled his back line in the face of constant pressure.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 6/10
Azpilicueta is one of Chelsea’s most consistent performers this season and dealt with the threat of Arsenal easily.
Nemanja Matic – 6/10
Matic received a ridiculous yellow card for a challenge on Sanchez but he put up a solid display in midfield and made a few runs forward to support Fabregas.
John Obi Mikel – 7/10
Mikel also received a yellow for a foul on Sanchez in the 70th minute and did quite well to curb the threat of Ozil and protected his back four well.
Oscar – 5/10
Oscar didn’t put up his best display on the ball but was lively in the beginning, pressing midfielders into making mistakes.
Cesc Fabregas – 9/10
Strategically very strong, Fabregas was the man of the match. His partnership in midfield with the others and his runs were all under control. He was also denied a clear penalty.
Willian – 7/10
Willian came up with some great attacking runs and was a constant threat going forawrd. He also linked up well with Costa a few times.
Diego Costa – 9/10
It was the second time Costa was involved in an Arsenal player being sent off this season. He scored with a good cross from Ivanovic too. His first touch wasn’t great but when it went to Ivanovic and came back with quality, it was enough to score.
Substitutes
Loic Remy – 5/10
Remy came on for Costa in the 68th minute. He didn’t have much to do but led the attack well after he came on.
Eden Hazard – N/A
Hazard made a comeback from injury and came on for Oscar in the 77th minute.
