FA Cup 2017/18, Nottingham Forest 4-2 Arsenal: Player Ratings

Arsenal

David Ospina – 6/10

Ospina was one of Arsenal’s better performers as he could do nothing about all for goals and he made a few good stops. However, he did concede four goals on the night.

Mathieu Debuchy – 5/10

Debuchy looked like he lacked match fitness and crucially, his tackle meant Arsenal gave away another penalty and conceded their fourth of the game, all but sealing the tie for Forest.

Per Mertesacker – 4/10

Although he got himself on the scoresheet, it was a terrible performance from Arsenal’s most experienced player and captain. He looked slow, was often out of position, and could have been at fault for many goals had Forest took their chances.

Rob Holding – 3/10

Holding struggled all evening. He gave away a penalty at 3-1, gave away silly fouls and was like Mertesacker, lucky not to have been at fault for even more goals.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 5/10

In recent matches, Maitland-Niles has performed brilliantly for Arsenal. But defensively today, he did not replicate those recent performances. He is more a left wing-back than a left back, but he still didn’t perform up to his usual standard.

Mohamed Elneny – 4/10

Elneny was very poor in this shock Arsenal defeat. The Egyptian is usually good at spreading the play and mainly keeping the ball. However, he was barely in the game, left Arsenal exposed defensively due to not covering in midfield and overall, just didn’t do enough.

Joe Willock – 5/10

Willock was the more productive of him and Elneny, but even still he did not have a very good game. He was bullied at times in midfield and failed to create anything special in the final third.

Theo Walcott – 5/10

There have been talks of Walcott making a £30 million switch to his old club Southampton, but after today it’s unlikely they will want to buy him. He looks to have lost a yard of pace, he was lacklustre in front of goal, and he failed to create any good chances.

Alex Iwobi – 6/10

Iwobi was one of Arsenal’s better performers on a dreadful night for the Gunners. The Nigerian got in some good positions and made some key passes, but he just wasn’t able to set up a goal or score himself.

Reiss Nelson – 7/10

Despite being Arsenal’s youngest player on the pitch, he was their standout performer on the night. He consistently ran at Lichaj, getting the better of him numerous times and he won the foul which led to Arsenal’s opener. Furthermore, he linked up well with Iwobi, Maitland-Niles and Willock and showed how he is able to do more than just dribble and run at full-backs.

Danny Welbeck – 6/10

Welbeck got his goal, but he will still be very disappointed with his performance. Mancienne and Worrall were often getting the better of him, and if it wasn’t for him being gifted the goal by Smith, it would have been another unproductive evening for the Englishman.

Substitutes:

Eddie Nketiah – 7/10

Nketiah was very bright off the bench and immediately found himself in a one on one situation after a great turn, but his effort was eventually saved. Then at 4-2, he could have got a goal after pouncing on a defensive mistake, but he was again denied by the goalkeeper.

Chuba Akpom – N/A

Akpom was brought on with just three minutes of normal time remaining. Although he won a foul and got Worrall sent off, his time was limited to make an impact.

Edited by Tanya Rudra