- Confirmed line-ups: Chelsea vs Arsenal – Odegaard and Rice start for Gunners
- Arsenal predicted line-up against Chelsea
- Arsenal register interest in signing Como star Nico Paz
- Arsenal make contact to sign Lille star Jonathan David
- Arsenal keen on signing Newcastle star Alexander Isak
- Arsenal ‘interested’ in signing Bayern Munich star Sane
- Arsenal showing ‘strong interest’ in signing Hugo Larsson
- Confirmed line-ups: Inter Milan vs Arsenal – Odegaard returns, Merino starts
- Arsenal predicted line-up against Inter Milan
- Arsenal eye move to sign Eintracht Frankfurt star Larsson
[Player ratings] Arsenal 4-1 Vienna: Lacazette & Pepe shine for on-song Gunners
Arsenal maintained their 100 percent record in the Europa League after beating Rapid Vienna 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.
Arsenal began brightly and opened the scoring in the 10th minute when Alexandre Lacazette smashed home a powerful strike from 30 yards before Pablo Mari headed home to make it 2-0 less than 10 minutes later.
We were in total control and scored a third goal just before half-time when Eddie Nketiah headed home from close range after his initial shot was saved following a lovely team move.
Vienna pulled one back just two minutes after the break when Kitagawa made it 3-1 following a goal-mouth scramble that saw Sead Kolasinac make two excellent goal-line clearances.
However, Arsenal continued to create plenty of chances and finally put the game to bed when Emile Smith Rowe came off the bench to make it 4-1 in the 66th minute and secure our five consecutive win in Group B.
Here are my ratings:
Runarsson 6/10 | Could perhaps have done better to keep out their goal but otherwise easy night.
Cedric 7/10 | Solid performance. Nothing spectacular to speak of but steady all-round.
Mustafi 7/10 | Relatively easy night’s work, even for Mustafi.
Mari 7.5/10 | Great to see him back and made it 2-0 with a terrific glancing header. Looked in good shape considering he’s been out for so long.
Kolasinac 7/10 | Made two superb goal-line clearances before Vienna scored their goal. Solid at the back.
Maitland-Niles 7.5/10 | Very encouraging performance in midfield. Should have scored in the second half but got an assist and was heavily involved in our play. Never stopped working.
Elneny 6.5/10 | Did the dirty work quietly and efficiently before going off midway through the second half.
Nelson 7/10 | Nice corner set-up Mari to make it 2-0 and teed-up Nketiah for his goal too. Always keen to make things happen but maybe didn’t do enough to stake his claim for Sunday.
Pepe 7.5/10 | Very lively performance again as he was at the heart of most of Arsenal’s attacking play. Created plenty of opportunities but over-played a few times and missed two excellent chances to score.
Lacazette 8/10 | Was on it last night! Opened the scoring with a superb long range strike. Hit the post and forced the keeper into another fine save after the break. Really worked hard and looked keen to impress.
Nketiah 7.5/10 | Finished off a lovely move to make it 3-0 with a close range header. Ran his socks off up front and went close to adding to his goal a couple of times.
Subs
Ceballos 7/10 | Very good when he came on. Played some lovely passes.
Smith Rowe 7/10 | Made it 4-0 just minutes after coming on. Delighted for him.
Willian 6.5/10 | Went close to breaking his duck.
Balogun 6/10 | Missed a decent chance to score again.
Chambers N/A | Nice to see him get a few minutes.