Goals: BATE Borisov: Ivanic 27, Gordeichuk 67. Arsenal: Walcott 9, 22, Holding 25, Giroud 49 pen.
Man of the Match/Goat of the Game: Jack Wilshere was terrific in the first half.
Referee Rating: D. Stefanski 7. Arsenal usually encounter harsh refereeing on their European adventures, but this time Mr. Stefanski was good and perhaps a little generous in awarding a penalty for a marginal infraction in the penalty area.
Manager Rating: Wenger 7. Wenger went with a young squad and they delivered a solid performance. The team were a tad passive at times, but there were more positives than negatives.
Arsenal performance: Arsenal punished Borisov’s mistakes and chaotic defending and built an early cushion that allowed them to coast to victory. Borisov made the game interesting and almost managed to get back into the match, but Arsenal held them at bay. That this was accomplished with a number of youngsters makes this impressive.
Conclusion: This away win has allowed Arsenal to grab control of this group and if they can win their next match they will virtually ensure advancing to the next round.
Player Ratings:
Ospina 6: The first goal caught him by surprise and he might have been better prepared. On the second goal he may a great reflex save, but deflected the ball straight back to the scorer. He made a couple of other decent saves.
Mustafi 6: Still guilty of poor passes and going to ground. The second goal came after he was beaten a little too easily. He drew the penalty that led to Arsenal’s fourth goal.
Mertesacker 7: Was solid for the most part, but he was unable to clear the cross that led to their second goal.
Holding 7: He had one or two shaky moments, but he scored his first ever goal (although the cross just deflected off him). A little later he almost scored again, but this time he clipped the upright.
Nelson 6: Too passive. He took the cautious approach and seldom drove to the goal. In fact, the only real run on goal took place just before he was substituted. I was hoping for more.
Elneny 6: After a fabulous match on the weekend, this performance didn’t have the same energy or dominance. He worked hard though.
Willock 7: While Elneny looked a little stale, Willock looked good. He showed poise in the middle, played with energy, and was strong on the ball. He got tired near the end and made a couple of mistakes late, particularly when he made a good run and opted to shoot rather than pass.
Maitland-Niles 6: Like Nelson, he tended to be cautious, although he did take on the defence several times. Still needs to avoid sloppy giveaways, but he was strong on the ball.
Wilshere 8: A great first half. He looked dangerous whenever he had the ball, was creative and inventive, and was combative. The problem was that Arsenal didn’t get him the ball often enough. He had a hand in most of the attacks.
Walcott 8: He had two goals, but probably should’ve had four. He too the first with confidence. The second was gifted to him by the goalkeeper. He also found the post and he narrowly missed scoring in the second half.
Giroud 6: Scored his 100th Arsenal goal with his second half penalty. He had several other chances, but his shooting was a little off.
Substitutes:
McGuane 7: Looked good on his short debut. He had one good chance to shoot, but he passed the ball off when he should’ve been a little greedy.
NKetiah n/a: He had a brief run out and had one decent chance to score, but the move broke down.