After facing demoralising defeats at the hands of Chelsea and Manchester City, Unai Emery’s Arsenal finally got off the mark this season, as goals from Nacho Monreal, Danny Welbeck and an own-goal from Issa Diop saw Arsenal register a 3-1 win over West Ham United.
The Hammers opened the scoring on the night with Marko Arnautovic but Monreal leveled things just five minutes later. Alexandre Lacazette, who only came off the bench in the second half, did well to put the West Ham backline under pressure, which resulted in Diop’s goal as Welbeck finished things off late in the game.
Manuel Pellegrini will be unhappy with the way his backline defended but Arsenal will not complain, as they finally registered their first points in the post-Arsene Wenger era. Here are the player ratings for the Gunners in this 3-1 win.
Petr Cech (6)
With four saves, none too testing, Cech had a comfortable night as West Ham failed to put pressure on him enough, for most of the game.
Hector Bellerin (6)
Was constantly pushed back by Antonio and Masuaku but he did well to come out on top and also picked up the assist for Welbeck’s goal late in the game.
Shkodran Mustafi (7)
The German got the better of Arnautovic for most of the evening, winning 3 aerial duels and also maintaining a passing accuracy of 90%, on an impressive night for the defender.
Sokratis (6)
Was at times bullied by the West Ham front line as he lacked strength and pace to keep up with them. But he did well to recover most of the time and will be happy with his first win in the Premier League.
Nacho Monreal (7)
His tussle with Fredericks on the flank was interesting to watch. The Spaniard not only picked up a goal but was involved in most of the build up play down his wing.
Granit Xhaka (7)
With three tackles to his name, Xhaka certainly put in his best performance of the season so far, which made Arsenal a much tougher team to play against.
Matteo Guendouzi (5)
The youngster struggled against West Ham, as he lost the ball far too often and also failed to provide enough cover for the backline.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan (6)
Was in charge of set-piece duties but the Armenian could have done much better with his final delivery, that often let his side down.
Aaron Ramsey (7)
His industry in the middle of the park was crucial for Arsenal to retain control of the game. His three dribbles and two tackles certainly troubled the West Ham defence.
Alex Iwobi (6)
Picked up the assist for Monreal’s goal but had an otherwise eventless night on the left flank.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (7)
With three shots and three dribbles to his name, the Gabon international was a constant threat to the visitors and if he can keep up these performances, the goals are just around the corner.
Subs
Alexandre Lacazette (7)
Was not only involved in Diop’s own goal but also added a degree of urgency to the Arsenal attack that won them the game in the end.
Lucas Torreira (7)
Took no time to adjust to the tempo of the game and played a fair number of defence breaking passes, one of which was crucial in Arsenal taking the lead.
Danny Welbeck (6)
Came on with 15 minutes to play and took up the perfect position to find the back of the net from six yards out, late in the game.
Stats Credit: Whoscored.com