Lukasz Fabianski - 7 - The new skipper - who saw that coming - made a fine early safe and kept competently. Note to commentators - foreign keepers are usually coached to punch more than catch - they've been doing it for years. It's obviously wrong which is why England have Paul Robinson and Johnny Foreigner has the likes of Cech and Buffon, but it has been like that for years - why must you express surprise everytime a goalkeeper elects to punch. Not that it annoys me or anything
Lassana Diarra - 7 - Interesting choice at right back given his recent outburst about playing more. He's a dynamic, powerful player who is wasted in this position though
Alexandre Song - 7 - A slightly rocky start but overall a solid performance. He's actually quite talented you know
Justin Hoyte - 8 - Acomposed performance at the back - it looks as if centre back might be his natural position, which is a shame as his lack of height might stop him making it to the top
Kieran Gibbs - 7 - Out of position and it showed at times but grew into the role and showed a fine range of passing
Theo Walcott - 7 - Scared the bejeesus out of the Sheffield United's defence with his pace, unlucky not to score
Gilberto Silva - 8 - In a episode of The Simpsons Mr Burns drops a player from his all-star baseball team for having sideburns despite the player being increasingly un-hirsute. It reminds me of Arsene's treatment of Gilberto - the ultimate professional has been stripped of the captaincy, dropped then sent to babysit the Carling kids. Gilberto's response - magnificent
Denilson - 7 - His great strength is that he knows what he is going to with the ball before he receives it. There's great competition between him, Diarra and Diaby but he may well turn out to be the best of the 3 D-grees (coat got thank you)
Abou Diaby - 5 - Signs that he felt the competition is beneath him this year as he was a bit lax but has done enough this year to be allowed an off night
Nicklas Bendtner - 7 - Dropped deep to draw out the United defence and did a sterling job leading the line
Eduardo da Silva - 7 - The boy can finish but has more to his game. One of the great strengths is his ability to drift wide and cause problems with his skill and pace. With Bendtner dropping deep it was almost like watching the Henry-Bergkamp dynamic of yesteryear. If only we had another Bobby
Substitutes
Henri Lansbury 9 *
Nacer Barazite 8 *
Fran Merida 6 *
* Subs marked purely on their hair not actual footballing ability