Quantcast
Home   >   Match   >   [Ratings] Portsmouth 0-2 Arsenal: Nelson stars as Mari makes encouraging debut

[Ratings] Portsmouth 0-2 Arsenal: Nelson stars as Mari makes encouraging debut

By on March 3, 2020

Reiss Nelson Arsenal

Arsenal booked their place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Monday night.

It was a fairly even first half with clear-cut chances at a premium but Arsenal managed to break the deadlock on the stroke of half-time when Sokratis volleyed home a wonderful cross from Reiss Nelson.

Arsenal started well after the restart and doubled our advantage when Eddie Nketiah poked home at the near post to make it 2-0 in the 51st minute following another excellent delivery from Nelson from the right touchline.

Portsmouth couldn’t find a way back into the game so Arsenal eased to a 2-0 victory to book our place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Here are my ratings:

Martinez  6/10 | Very little to do in terms of shot stopping but collected a few crosses well.

Sokratis  7/10 | Lovely volley to open the scoring just before half-time. Did a job at right-back and was solid defensively but still offered very little going forward down the flank from open play.

Luiz  6/10 | Solid and unspectacular display. Kept things simple and didn’t make any silly mistakes.

Mari  7/10 | Encouraging debut. Looked composed on the ball, dealt with long balls comfortably and was a little quicker than I expected. Tougher tests will come but solid debut.

Saka  7/10 | A constant threat down the left wing. His deliveries weren’t as dangerous as we’ve seen from him recently but still got into some great positions. Wasn’t troubled at the back either.

Guendouzi  6.5/10 | A busy display from the Frenchman. Some sloppy passes early on but grew into the game and kept things ticking over. Was harshly booked by Mike Dean for sarcastically putting the ball down.

Torreira  N/A | Forced off in the 16th minute with a serious-looking ankle injury. Let’s hope for positive news.

Nelson  8.5/10 | Excellent performance. Terrific delivery set-up the Sokratis goal and put-in another superb cross to set-up Nketiah for our second. His pace caused Portsmouth all sorts of problems and he finished the game with 93% pass completion. MOTM.

Willock  5.5/10 | Failed to take his chance once again with another sub-par performance. Had no real positive influence.

Martinelli  7/10 | Showed off his dribbling skills on a couple of occasions and was a threat when in possession. Worked hard off the ball as usual and did his bit defensively too.

Nketiah  7/10 | Another goal for the youngster making it 3 in 6 games with a close range finish at the near post. Combined well with Nelson and Martinelli a few times.

Subs:

Ceballos   7/10 | On for Torreira in the 16th minute. Settled into the game after a slow start but helped drive Arsenal forward when on the ball and worked hard to protect our lead.

Xhaka   N/A | On too late

Maitland-Niles  N/A | On too late.