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[Player Ratings] Arsenal 3-1 Cologne: Kolasinac superb, Holding woeful

By mac14 on September 14, 2017

Arsenal made hard work of Cologne as we came from behind to win our opening Europa League group game 3-1 at the Emirates tonight.

An Ospina error led to the visitors opening the scoring before Kolasinac came off the bench to level things up with a stunning volley.

Sanchez put us ahead with an equally sensational curler in to the top corner before Bellerin wrapped-up the comeback with a late third.

Here are my ratings:

Ospina 4.5/10 | Horrible error led to the opening goal as he rushed out his area, fluffed his clearance and watched Cordoba fired in to the empty net from 40 yards. Offside flag saved him from giving away a penalty shortly after. Made a couple of routine saves in the second half.

Mertesacker 6.5/10 | His lack of pace forced Ospina to rush out his area. Dominant in the air. Looked far more comfortable when we went to a back four.

Holding 4/10 | A night to forget for the youngster. He was all over the place at times, giving away needless free-kicks and losing possession. Subbed at half-time.

Monreal 6/10 | Caught out of position a couple of times but improved after the break.

Bellerin 7/10 | A threat down the right and got a morale-boosting goal late on.

Elneny 6/10 | Another rather subdued performance. He does the simple stuff well but is such a limited player. He just doesn’t offer enough.

Maitland-Niles 6.5/10 | Struggled at wing-back but looked far more comfortable when he moved to central midfield after the break. Should perhaps have done better in front of goal following a superb run.

Iwobi 5/10 | Another hugely disappointing performance from Alex. He needed to take this chance to impress and he came up short.

Walcott 5/10 | Caught offside about a million times. So frustrating to watch. But saw his shot saved in the build-up to the third goal.

Sanchez 7.5/10 | Awful in the first half. Couldn’t make a 5 yard pass but then he turns around and curls one in to the top corner for 2-1. Frustrating, but he produces moments of magic.

Giroud 6.5/10 | Held the ball up well at times and linked up with his team mates. Didn’t get his goal but worked hard to lead the line.

Subs:

Kolasinac 8/10 | Slammed home a stunning volley to make it 1-1 and produced the cross that led to the third goal. Huge impact.

Wilshere 7/10 | Lovely dummy in the build-up to the third goal and played some lovely passes. Encouraging cameo.

Nelson 5/10 | Couldn’t really get in the game during his 10-minute cameo but great to see him making his full debut.

Watch all the goals from the game here

It was a poor opening forty-five minutes but we improved after the break and a couple of moments of magic made the difference. On to Chelsea on Sunday….