Arsenal began their 2020-21 Premier League campaign on a winning note and eased past newly-promoted side Fulham to emerge 3-0 winners.
Alexandre Lacazette, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bagged one goal each, but it was new signing Willian who impressed with his assists on his debut for the Gunners.
Here are our Arsenal player ratings from what transpired earlier today.
Arsenal Player Ratings vs Fulham
Bernd Leno 7/10
Barring a few early moments of miscommunication between him and Gabriel Magalhaes, he had a comfortable afternoon.
Rob Holding 7/10
Having operated as a right-sided central defender, Holding stood up to the task of keeping Ivan Cavaleiro at bay. He did show patches of rustiness, but settled well in the end. He finished the game with two tackles.
Gabriel Magalhaes 8/10
He took time to settle and had a few nervy moments initially. However, he grew in confidence as the game progressed, and did not allow Aboubakar Kamara to find his feet. Scored a good goal from a corner, and he will be a threat in set-piece situations in the future.
Kieran Tierney 7/10
There was no dearth of energy from the former Celtic man. But he was not as composed as he usually is. Made a few good forays forward, and had a pass success rate of 100%.
Hector Bellerin 8/10
The Spaniard was solid at the back, and did not have to do much in attack owing to Willian’s impact on the game.
Mohamed Elneny 7/10
Elneny recycled possession with immense precision, managing a pass success rate of 94%, and was aware of the threats around him. The Egyptian read the game well and was good with his positioning off the ball.
Granit Xhaka 7/10
The Swiss international completed an incredible 55 passes in the game and showed his tenacity in the midfield with two blocks, two tackles and one interception.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles 7/10
Not the most efficient player on the pitch, but he hardly put a foot wrong. The left wing-back whipped in some delightful crosses and tracked back well. He made two tackles and completed one dribble.
Willian 9/10
Willian made the perfect start to his life at Arsenal. He bagged a couple of assists and was a livewire in the final third. He stretched the Fulham defence at times with his pace, and his delivery in the final third was on point. He finished the game with three key passes, and a pass accuracy of 96%. Quite a debut!
Alexandre Lacazette 7/10
Worked hard up front, and scored the opening game of the game which showed his predatory instincts. If he can strike a good partnership with Willian, Arsenal’s attack will be hard to stop.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 9/10
Last season’s top scorer for the Gunners, Aubameyang created all sorts of problems for Denis Odoi and Michael Hector. His quality was too much for the Cottagers, as they could hardly touch him. Scored the third goal of the game with an exquisite finish from the left.
Substitutions
Nicolas Pepe 6/10
After coming on for Willian in the second half, Pepe injected some energy into Arsenal’s attack.
Dani Ceballos NA
Bukayo Saka NA
Statistics Credits: Whoscored