Is either they sell Him by January or sack me, I can no longer manage a team where He plays again”, Mikel Arteta have ordered for the sale of Arsenal defender who let the whole team down today
Is either they sell Him by January or sack me, I can no longer manage a team where He plays again”, Mikel Arteta have ordered for the sale of Arsenal defender who let the whole team down today
Arsenal suffered a damaging but deserved 2-0 to defeat to Bournemouth in their Premier League clash at the Vitality Stadium. The hosts probably edged the early exchanges as the game struggled to really catch light. It burst into flames around the half-hour mark as William Saliba was sent off in controversial circumstances.
The Frenchman was initially shown a yellow card for tugging down Evanilson just outside the centre circle as the Brazilian threatened to run in on goal courtesy of Leandro Trossard’s wayward back-pass. VAR intervened, though, to send Rob Jones to the screen and overturn his decision.
This forced the match in to a game of attack vs defence – a familiar story for Arsenal this season. The Gunners coped well for large parts and could even have taken the lead through Gabriel Martinelli.
Eventually they were undone by a clever corner routine which saw Ryan Christie hammer home. Evanilson then surged onto Jakub Kiwior’s weak back-pass and was felled by David Raya in the box, enabling Justin Kluivert to dispatch a penalty that made the game safe for the hosts. Here’s how football.london rated the Arsenal players in the match.
David Raya: Not always at his most secure on the ball. A few shaky moments when playing out. Made a couple of decent saves, but not at his best. Gave away the penalty too. 5.
Ben White: Beaten on a couple of occasions by Ouattara. Booked for timewasting when he might have used it quicker. Not able to much going forward given the circumstances of the game. 5.
William Saliba: Was hard done by with Trossard’s wayward back pass, but seemed to panic and haul Evanilson down. Had he been cuter, he might have got away with it; but there was no subtlety to the challenge. 4.
Gabriel: Seemed to grow after the red card putting in a few big blocks. Tried to keep the team focused. Could not do much about the goal. 6.
Riccardo Calafiori: Not at his best in an attacking sense in the early stages. Showed good defensive diligence after the red. Still has a tendency to dive into challenges, though. 6.
Thomas Partey: His quality on the ball may not have been at its best but his work rate can’t be questioned. Put a real shift in for the team and crunched into tackles. 6.
Mikel Merino: Not the greatest of full debuts for the Spaniard. A little ponderous in possession on the night. Did run himself into the ground though. 5.
Declan Rice: His set piece delivery could have been a real weapon with Arsenal down to 10, but it wasn’t at his best. Made a fair few interceptions in the middle, but struggled to ever master control of possession. 5.
Raheem Sterling: Unlucky to be the one sacrificed after the red as he had looked relatively threatening on the break. Arsenal didn’t have the ball in the areas where he could cause problems enough though. 6.
Kai Havertz: Battled hard up front but was totally isolated for the most part. Arguably switched off a touch for the corner, but can’t really be blamed. 6.
Leandro Trossard: What was he thinking with that back-pass? Left Saliba totally exposed for the red. Hadn’t been at his best going forward prior to that. 5.
SUBSTITUTES –
Jakub Kiwior: Had been doing OK defensively but his weak pass back to Raya for the penalty was really poor. Suffered the indignity of being taken off as a substitute. 5.
Gabriel Martinelli: Made an instant impact after coming on with a good delivery. Had to take his opportunity at 0-0 though. The game changed after that. 6.
Gabriel Jesus: Came on too late for a rating. n/a.
Ethan Nwaneri: Came on too late for a rating. n/a.
