Quantcast
Home   >   Match   >   [Ratings] Leeds 0-0 Arsenal: Leno saves woeful Gunners as brainless Pepe sees red

[Ratings] Leeds 0-0 Arsenal: Leno saves woeful Gunners as brainless Pepe sees red

By on November 22, 2020

Bernd-Leno-arsenal

Arsenal produced another toothless performance as we ground out a 0-0 draw at Leeds United after Nicolas Pepe was sent off early in the second half.

We were fortunate to go into the break at 0-0 as Leeds were much the better team during the opening forty-five minutes as Arsenal just couldn’t just get a hold of the game.

Our task got a lot harder early in the second half when Nicolas Pepe was sent off for a clash with Ezgjan Alioski. He reacted by squaring up to the Leeds man and did slightly push his head towards the player. In today’s world it’s probably a sending off but there was minimal contact and Alioski made the most of it. I don’t think it should be a sending off but it was brainless from Pepe.

Arsenal actually looked more dangerous with 10 men and should have won it late on when Bukayo Saka was sent clear by Hector Bellerin but he failed to round the keeper and the chance was gone. We should also have had a stonewall penalty when a Leeds defender handled in the area to block an Aubameyang shot. VAR barely even looked at it but based on the rules and similar incidents we’ve seen this season, it was defiantly a pen.

Leeds hit the bar late on as Arsenal held out for a 0-0 draw meaning we’ve scored just 1 goal in our last five Premier League games. And that was a penalty. Arteta needs to improve things, and quickly.

Here are my ratings:

Leno  7.5/10 | Good save to deny Bamford midway through the first half and another great save to deny Dallas. Made a few other solid stops to keep Arsenal in the game.

Bellerin  6.5/10 | Average game for the most part but played a superb through-ball for Saka that should have led to a winner.

Holding  6/10 | Solid in the air and made a number of clearances.

Gabriel  6/10 | Couple of good blocks and held things together reasonably well but poor clearance almost gifted Leeds a goal.

Tierney  7/10 | No real problems defensively and looked dangerous down the left flank at times – especially once Saka came on. Good to see him giving it to Alioski after the final whistle for his part in Pepe’s dismissal.

Xhaka  5/10 | Had no control of the game and it kind of passed him by at times. Offered very little protection to the back four either.

nicolas pepe arsenal

Willock  5/10 | Didn’t take his chance to shine. Carried the ball forwards well on occasion but very little end product.

Ceballos  6/10 | Some wayward passing and a dreadful free-kick but at least he was busy in midfield trying to force things – particularly in the first half.

Willian  4/10 | Another shocking performance. Very little impact and was subbed at half-time.

Aubameyang  5/10 | Played through the middle but had no service and scuffed the one chance he did get. Worryingly, he looked disinterested at times.

Pepe  4/10 | Brainless. I thought it was a harsh red as they barely touched heads but it was still a stupid thing for Pepe to do and he gave the ref an opportunity to send him off. His performance was woeful anyway. Such a disappointing signing.

Subs:

Nelson  5/10 | No real impact and produced some poor set-pieces.

Saka   /10 | Positive impact but missed a golden chance to snatch the win late on when he fluffed his shot after being sent through on goal.

2 Comments