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[Player ratings] Arsenal 4-1 Vienna: Lacazette & Pepe shine for on-song Gunners

By on December 4, 2020

alexandre lacazette

Arsenal maintained their 100 percent record in the Europa League after beating Rapid Vienna 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

Arsenal began brightly and opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Alexandre Lacazette smashed home a powerful strike from 30 yards before Pablo Mari headed home to make it 2-0 less than 10 minutes later.

We were in total control and scored a third goal just before half-time when Eddie Nketiah headed home from close range after his initial shot was saved following a lovely team move.

Vienna pulled one back just two minutes after the break when Kitagawa made it 3-1 following a goal-mouth scramble that saw Sead Kolasinac make two excellent goal-line clearances.

However, Arsenal continued to create plenty of chances and finally put the game to bed when Emile Smith Rowe came off the bench to make it 4-1 in the 66th minute and secure our five consecutive win in Group B.

Here are my ratings:

Runarsson  6/10 | Could perhaps have done better to keep out their goal but otherwise easy night.

Cedric  7/10 | Solid performance. Nothing spectacular to speak of but steady all-round.

Mustafi  7/10 | Relatively easy night’s work, even for Mustafi.

Mari  7.5/10 | Great to see him back and made it 2-0 with a terrific glancing header. Looked in good shape considering he’s been out for so long.

Kolasinac  7/10 | Made two superb goal-line clearances before Vienna scored their goal. Solid at the back.

Maitland-Niles  7.5/10 | Very encouraging performance in midfield. Should have scored in the second half but got an assist and was heavily involved in our play. Never stopped working.

Elneny  6.5/10 | Did the dirty work quietly and efficiently before going off midway through the second half.

Nelson  7/10 | Nice corner set-up Mari to make it 2-0 and teed-up Nketiah for his goal too. Always keen to make things happen but maybe didn’t do enough to stake his claim for Sunday.

Pepe  7.5/10 | Very lively performance again as he was at the heart of most of Arsenal’s attacking play. Created plenty of opportunities but over-played a few times and missed two excellent chances to score.

Lacazette  8/10 | Was on it last night! Opened the scoring with a superb long range strike. Hit the post and forced the keeper into another fine save after the break. Really worked hard and looked keen to impress.

Nketiah  7.5/10 | Finished off a lovely move to make it 3-0 with a close range header. Ran his socks off up front and went close to adding to his goal a couple of times.

Subs

Ceballos   7/10 | Very good when he came on. Played some lovely passes.

Smith Rowe   7/10 | Made it 4-0 just minutes after coming on. Delighted for him.

Willian   6.5/10 | Went close to breaking his duck.

Balogun   6/10 | Missed a decent chance to score again.

Chambers   N/A | Nice to see him get a few minutes.