Arsenal player ratings vs Man City as Gabriel Martinelli scores and William Saliba shows quality
How the Gunners got on individually in their Premier League clash with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium
Arsenal have beaten Manchester City for the first time in eight years in the Premier League courtesy of a late Gabriel Martinelli goal at the Emirates. A tight affair began with City on top as Julian Alvarez almost deflected David Raya’s pass out in.
Raya failed to convince throughout, but Arsenal stood up defensively throughout restricting City to very few clear cut chances. The Gunners didn’t exactly create many of their own, and as the 85th minute approached it appeared the game would end goalless.
However, Takehiro Tomiyasu appeared out of nowhere to nod a long ball into Kai Havertz’s path. The German then laid off to Martinelli whose shot deflected off Nathan Ake for the winner. Here football.london takes a look at how the Arsenal players got on individually in the match.
David Raya: The Spaniard is normally an ocean of calm in the Arsenal backline but today he was anything but. Uncharacteristically poor passing from the back and flapping at crosses. Aaron Ramsdale would have been watching on with intrigue. Looked to have been knocked by his error at Lens in midweek. 5.
Ben White: Defensively really good as City threw various different combinations at him. Couldn’t get forward as much as he usually does but given the opponents that can be forgiven. 7.
William Saliba: When Arsenal looked uncertain of themselves in the first half, the one man who stood out like a sore thumb for his calmness was Saliba. The Frenchman put on another masterclass of of how to deal with Erling Haaland. Feels like the day where he announced himself as the best central defender in the Premier League 8.
Gabriel: Wasn’t always at his most convincing when playing out from the back and gave Raya a few tough tests. When asked to defend though, the Brazilian was excellent and produced several last ditch clearances to stop City scoring certain goals. 8.
Oleksandr Zinchenko: Only ranked sixth for touches among the Arsenal team which shows he wasn’t at his influential best. Still defended pretty well with one superb tackle on Doku a standout. 6.
Jorginho: Booked early on a tactical foul that wasn’t that necessary but had a decent game considering. Allowed Arsenal to match City at stages when it came to controlling the ball. 6.
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Declan Rice: An interception machine in the Arsenal midfield. Stepped up to end long spells of seemingly infinite City possession. Good on the ball too and showed a forward desire befitting of his box-to-box role. 8.
Martin Odegaard: Marshalled Arsenal’s high press in the final third and helped them to defend City well. A few too many potshots from distance when they weren’t really on though. 6.
Gabriel Jesus: Worked hard down the right and had to defend very deep. His moments of quality were some of Arsenal’s highlights in the final third though. 7.
Eddie Nketiah: Found his opportunities limited and mishit his one shot wide in the first half. Really fatigued in the second period and this became a problem for Arsenal’s press. 5.
Leandro Trossard: Struggled to really impact things for the second match in a row. Feels harsh as it was more a case of Arsenal struggling to get the ball to him, but on the rare occasions that he did get it, he didn’t do enough. 5.
SUBSTITUTES –
Gabriel Martinelli: Brought instant urgency into the Arsenal attack after coming on at half time. This forward thrust was rewarded with a fortunate deflection late on that he probably deserved with his display. 7.
Kai Havertz: Looks to be much more comfortable in an Arsenal shirt playing up front as a facilitator. Played this role to great effect to set up the goal. 7.
Thomas Partey: Brought his usual mix of control and verticality to the base of the midfield. Arteta would have been delighted to have him to call upon late on. 6.
Takehiro Tomiyasu: Brought on to see the game out in the defensive third but made the difference in the final third with his run out of nowhere to create Martinelli’s late winner. 7