Goals: Arsenal: Lacazette (20, 67 pen)
Man of the Match/Goat of the Game: There were many candidates for man of the match, but Alexandre Lacazette was cool and calm in front of goal and collected his first brace.
Referee Rating: Bobby Madley 8. The referee could’ve been better at disciplining Krychowiak and Dawson, who were constantly fouling. However, on the two big decisions he was generous to the Gunners. Mustafi got away with fouling Rodriguez in the area, while Nyom was penalized for fouling Ramsey and a penalty was awarded, a somewhat dubious decision.
Manager Rating: Wenger 8. Wenger decided to keep Ozil on the bench and to bring Elneny into the midfield, a decision which was a good one with Elneny responding with an excellent display.
Arsenal performance: The first half was competitive and West Brom created the best chances, but couldn’t convert. Mustafi got away with tripping up Rodriguez, who got to his feet and shot across goal. Cech got a fingertip to the ball and it struck the upright and deflected straight to Livermore, who couldn’t convert with the goal at his mercy. Later on Rodriguez headed a Krychowiak cross past Cech, but Monreal superbly cleared off the line. Arsenal took the lead when Sanchez’s free-kick was deflected off the crossbar and Lacazette was first on the scene to head home.
Arsenal were much better in the second half and kept the West Brom defence under pressure most of the time. Lacazette’s penalty put the game out of reach and capped a solid performance from Arsenal.
Conclusion: A good performance saw Arsenal convert their chances against a tough West Brom and move up to seventh place in the standings. They need to continue to build on this display by starting to win away and not just at home.
Player Ratings:
Cech 8: His big save off Rodriguez came with just the slightest of touches. For the rest of the game he was solid.
Mustafi 6: He got away with fouling Rodriguez in the area with a rash challenge. He looks a little dodgy at times, but he played well for the most part.
Koscielny 7: Got caught upfield once or twice, but he mopped up other’s mistakes.
Monreal 8: His clearance of Rodriguez’s header to save conceding a goal was spectacular. He had one fine forward run as well, but couldn’t get a shot off after he slalomed through West Brom’s defence.
Ramsey 8: He was effective running the midfield from Ozil’s advanced position. He had several half chances and he drew the penalty. He also had one poor giveaway that almost resulted in Rodriguez scoring.
Xhaka 7: He was efficient in the middle and he generally bossed the match. He had a couple of shots at goal … not on goal.
Bellerin 8: Matched against Kieran Gibbs, he was fairly conservative in his attacking, but he had several good moments up front.
Kolasinac 7: Another good match from Sead, featuring some good attacking moves, some tough tackles, and lots of effort.
Elneny 8: Perhaps his best game ever as a Gunner. He was energetic, ran a lot, supported the attack, spread the ball around, and supported the defence.
Lacazette 9: His first goal saw him in the right place at the right time. The second goal saw him coolly convert the penalty. He almost had a third, but missed from a tight angle.
Sanchez 8: An excellent outing. He made some fabulous runs, quick turns, and delicious passes. His free-kick was parried onto the bar by Foster straight to Lacazette. Some of his passes were a bit off, but he looked a lot better than he has in recent matches.
Substitutes:
Ozil n/a: A few passes in his return from injury.
Giroud 5: He made a couple of nice touches in a short cameo.
Maitland-Niles n/a: His appearance lasted literally ten seconds at the end of the match.