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FC Köln
Timo Horn: 7/10
Horn could do almost nothing about a thunderous close range strike from Kolasinac and a fantastic curling effort from Sanchez. Then denied Walcott before Bellerin converted underneath him. He was unlucky to concede three goals and did very well to deny Maitland-Niles at 1-1.
Lukas Klunter: 7/10
Dealt with Sanchez very well and often forced him inside, one of Koln’s best performers as he kept out the Chilean and made it hard for the winger.
Jorge Mere Perez: 7/10
Defended extremely well against a tough opponent in Giroud. The game opened up and it became harder to defend but he still put in a good performance.
Dominique Heintz: 7/10
Alongside Perez, he defended very well against Giroud and oncoming attackers. Found it harder, obviously, in the second half, but still defended well.
Konstantin Rausch: 6/10
Never allowed Bellerin in behind him to cross and always forced him backwards. He put in a solid performance at full back but did find it difficult to defend Walcott’s runs in behind at times.
Matthias Lehmann: 6/10
Screened the back four extremely well for the first half. His job became more difficult as the game went on, especially with Arsenal eventually having three technically gifted players in midfield.
Simon Zoller: 4/10
Was not on the side where Koln had most of their joy, suggesting he was finding it hard against Maitland-Niles. His name wasn’t heard much in the second half either as Kolasinac defended very well and kept him quiet.
Marco Hoger: 6/10
Defended for most of the half but found it very easy defensively and did well at times to transition the ball on the counter attack. Proved to be a difficult second half for the centre midfielder but not a bad all round performance.
Jonas Hector: 6/10
Koln’s most established player, the German international, had to come off early after twisting his ankle under Ospina. Disappointing for Koln as he looked bright early on in midfield.
Leonardo Bittencourt: 7/10
Gave Arsenal trouble early on and got in behind Holding twice, by far Koln’s most dangerous player on the counter attack. He had lots of joy throughout the game and seems to be a very good player.
Jhon Cordoba: 7/10
His fantastic strike gave Koln a surprise lead and he looked very dangerous in behind on the counter attack. It was a very good performance, capped off with a great goal early on.
Substitutions:
Milos Jojic: 5/10
His name was barely heard with all of Arsenal’s pressure, not the best of nights for the early substitute, not helped by the fact his team were defending for most of the time he was on the pitch.
Marcel Risse: 6/10
Proved to be a brighter spark than Zoller and looked dangerous on the counter attack on occasions.
Yuya Osako: N/A
Coming off the bench late it was always going to be difficult to have much of an impact, especially given Koln’s lack of attacking threat.
