Written by: Jonathan Lee

For 60 minutes last night the marks were looking like being not too bad at all, but sadly the game was played over 97 minutes …

Martin 6 – not much he could do about the opening two goals but might have done better with the third, oddly didn’t really have that busy a night despite the scoreline;

Fredericks 5 – again no threat going forward and failed to step up with the line for Arsenal’s third, he is currently looking like a player suited to the Championship (and the way we’re performing he may be playing there come next August);

Balbuena 6 – generally steady in the air and in the tackle but every long clearance went straight to an Arsenal shirt, super Ginger Pele type block late in the second half, Diop must be wondering when he will get recalled;

Ogbonna 7 – once again arguably our standout performer, stuck his head/shoulder/upper arm bravely in to grab the goal and looked steady yet again at the heart of the defence;

Cresswell 6 – had done reasonably ok up until his early second half injury, tried to push forward and get the ball into the box but with mixed success;

Noble 6 – a better display than last time out, and some nice touches at times, but tired after the second Arsenal goal and looked as lost as the rest of the players by the end;

Rice 6.5 – first hour he played well, moved the ball out wide whenever possible, had a decent effort on goal early second half but then immediately lost his man for the crucial equaliser and his energy levels also dipped by the end, probably as much through mental fatigue as physical;

Snodgrass 5.5 – flitted in and out of the game, first 30 minutes pressed pretty well but then stepped off the gas until subbed, never threatened going forward with lots of edge of the box running that ended with no product; early on appeared to be having a heated discussion with MP

Anderson 5 – saw quite a bit of the ball in the early stages but seems to have completely lost his mojo, at times in the second half when he had acres of space to burst into he simply jogged along;

Fornals 6.5 – another decent game, at least until the hour mark, a neat assist for the goal and was nice to see he how he celebrated it (on his knees with his head and hands skywards);

Antonio 6 – after a bright opening where he pressed well and forced a sharp save from Leno, he tailed off second half clearly not having fully recovered from the knock that kept him out of Wolves, by the end he was literally running on empty, either that or he is injured again;

Subs:

Masuaku (for Cresswell, 51 mins) 3.5 – his first few touches after coming on looked solid to be fair but soon lapsed into his old ways, not closing down effectively for either the second or third goals, offered precious little going forward;

Haller (for Anderson, 70 mins) 3.5 – like Anderson a pale imitation of what we know he can do, playing more like John Carew back in the day (large, cumbersome, ineffective), it is really sad to see a player with clear ability just running from defender to defender with no real urgency, waving his hands for other players to help him (who then don’t appear);

Holland (for Snodgrass, 78 mins) 4 – brought on when the game was already lost, had little impact, one weak long range effort.