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[Ratings] Arsenal 1-0 West Ham: Leno stars as Lacazette secures vital win

By on March 7, 2020

Arsenal dug deep to secure a barely deserved 1-0 victory over a wasteful West Ham at the Emirates this afternoon.

We were poor in the first half as West Ham wasted two excellent chances to open the scoring while Sokratis had our best opportunity after he hit the bar with a free header but it was goalless at the break.

West Ham continued to threaten in the second half but it was Arsenal who eventually broke the deadlock as Mesut Ozil teed-up Alexandre Lacazette with a clever header and the substitute made no mistake with a fine finish.

The goal was initially ruled out as the linesman [wrongly] flagged for offside and VAR did it’s best to find a way to rule it out after taking an age to check it over but he HAD to give it as Ozil was clearly onside. 1-0 to Arsenal in the 78th minute.

The Hammers pushed to find a late equaliser but we held on to secure a vital three points which keeps us in touch with the pack chasing the top four.

These are  my ratings:

Leno  8/10 | MOTM. Made a couple of excellent saves to deny Antonio and was out well to thwart Haller at his feet. Dealt well with some crosses and high balls. Easily our best player on the day.

Sokratis  6/10 | Started at right-back yet again and missed a golden chance to open the scoring after hitting the bar with a free header. Did OK but doesn’t offer much going forward and Bellerin is still the better option at full-back.

Luiz  6.5/10 | Left Antonio free from a corner but luckily the West Ham attacker missed a sitter. Otherwise the Brazilian did well enough to help secure a clean sheet.

Bernd-Leno-arsenal

Pablo Mari  6.5/10 | Mistake should have gifted West Ham the lead in the 10th minute but apart from that Mari did pretty well on his league debut. Dealt with everything in the air well and composed on the ball. Still looks a little slow for my liking though.

Saka  7/10 | Another solid performance from the youngster at left-back. Still needs to work on his positioning at times but he’s a real threat going forward down the left flank. Played his part in the build up to the goal.

Ceballos  7.5/10 | Strange game from the Spaniard. His stats suggest he was outstanding as he had the most touches, passes, recoveries, interception and tackles out of any Arsenal player. There is no doubt he was brilliant in the defensive work and everything went through him, however, Ceballos was ponderous on the ball at times and slowed down our play. Needs to release the ball much quicker and get us going forward as we’re struggling to create right now.

Xhaka  6/10 | Sloppy early ball lead to West Ham hitting the post. Improved in the second half but our midfield is too slow and unimaginative with Xhaka alongside Ceballos.

Pepe  6.5/10 | Another frustrating afternoon. His ability is obvious and he turned the West Ham defence inside out at times but then the final ball wasn’t there. Took too many touches at times and needs to keep things simple. Subbed.

Ozil  6/10 | Saw a goal-bound shot well blocked early on but struggled to create anything of note for most of the game. Then popped up with a clever header to set-up Lacazette for the goal. It was a nice assist but we still need a lot more from our big-wage playmaker. Subbed.

Aubameyang  6/10 | Struggled to get in the game and still feel he’s wasted on the wing. Set-up Sokratis for his header which hit the bar and his blocked-shot lead to the Arsenal goal but is was a quiet day by Auba’s standards.

Nketiah  6/10 | A couple of half chances but it was a frustrating afternoon for the youngster. Couldn’t really impose himself against the West Ham defence and struggled to make the ball stick up front.

Subs:

Lacazette  7.5/10 | The perfect impact off the bench as he scored the winner after replacing Nketiah. Added some much needed energy in attack too.

Nelson   6/110 | Worked hard to see out the game late on but blazed a decent chance high over the bar.

Bellerin   N/A | On too late.

Overall, it was a poor performance, we should have lost but got away with an important three points. Man City away up next…

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