PLAYER RATINGS: ARSENAL

Sunderland were beaten by two goals to nil at the hands of the reigning champions of England. It was game determined by fine margins (and some questionable refereeing decisions) but in the end they scored their penalty, we didn’t, and they scored a screamer. We couldn’t break them down but we came frustratingly close and there’s definitely a lot of positives to take from the game.

ROBIN ROEFS: 8/10

Made some really good saves and deserved a clean sheet. Nothing he could have done about the first goal and he very nearly kept the penalty out.

NORDI MUKIELE: 8/10

Really positive going forward and got pretty unlucky not to grab a goal, he should have swung his foot at it at one point rather than back heeling it.

KEVIN DANSO: 7/10

Didn’t notice him all that much but he was decent enough on the ball.

DAN BALLARD: 8/10

Won a penalty and caused them all sorts of bother when the ball bounced around their box. Got given a totally underserved yellow card.

REINILDO: 6.5/10

Not sure what else he could have done other than foul Bukayo Saka and get a second yellow, you can define that one as a ‘professional foul’. Had an alright game.

GRANIT XHAKA: 8.5/10

Played his heart out and kept control of the ball brilliantly throughout. Maybe slowed the game down a bit too much but it’s harsh to hold that against him considering the opposition.

NOAH SADIKI: 7.5/10

Played more defensively, understandable given the opposition but not a lot of opportunity to shine.

THOMAS MEUNIER: 7/10

Had one effort saved and did fine whilst on the pitch, nothing spectacular.

ENZO LE FEE: 7/10

He was good, unlucky to miss the penalty but I think he maybe panicked once or twice when we were on the break. An example of that was when he tried to catch the goalkeeper out in the first half but sent it nowhere near.

NILSON ANGULO: 7/10

Nearly broke away a few times but got really unlucky with the referee’s decisions, especially in the second half.

BRIAN BROBBEY: 7/10

Positioned himself well and, had the ball fallen slightly differently a few times, he might have had a proper chance. Looked much more positive alongside Wilson Isidor.

SUBS:

WILSON ISIDOR: 6.5/10

Linked up well with Brobbey but nothing concrete came of it. Only made seven touches so hard to justify going much higher.

MALICK FOFANA: 6.5/10

Continues to look a good player and made a couple of decent runs, less than 10 touches though so I’ll give him the same as Isidor.