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[Player Ratings] Preston 1-2 Arsenal: Gabriel & Mustafi flop

By mac14 on January 7, 2017

Olivier Giroud was the savior once again as he scored late on to secure a 2-1 win for Arsenal against Preston North End in the FA Cup tonight.

We were diabolical in the first half and were fortunate to only be 1-0 down at the break with Robinson’s 7th minute goal the difference at half-time.

The players came flying our the blocks after the break and Ramsey equalised within seconds before Giroud won it with another late goal to book our place in the fourth round.

Here are my ratings:

Ospina 6/10 | Could do little for their goal and made a few routine saves but was dodgy on crosses.

Maitland-Niles 5/10 | A tough night for the youngster at right-back as he was given plenty of problems. Looked out his depth at times.

Mustafi 5/10 | Terrible in the first half. Easily his worse 45 minutes at Arsenal. Improved after the break and forced a fine save at 1-1.

Gabriel 4.5/10 | Awful defending cost us the first goal and poor attempts at playing offside should have cost us more goals. Worryingly bad in the first half. Better after the break.

Monreal 6/10 | Poor attempted tackle in the build up to their opener but he cleared one off the line to keep it at 1-0. The best of the back four, which doesn’t say much.

Ramsey 6/10 | Put a free header straight at the keeper in the first half before scoring a fine equaliser after the break.

Xhaka 6/10 | Struggled to get to grips with a busy Preston midfield at times but he improved when we took control in the second half.

Oxlade-Chamberlain 5/10 | All over the place in the opening 45 minutes and he couldn’t complete a pass. Slightly better in the second half but still nowhere near his best.

Iwobi 5/10 | Good work to tee-up Ramsey for the equaliser but that was about as good as it got. Tried too many fancy tricks instead of keeping things simple.

Lucas 6/10 | Anonymous in the first half but saved his good work for the crucial second goal as he set-up Giroud with a lovely back-heel. Vital moment in the game.

Giroud 7/10 | Wasted a good chance to make it 1-1 midway through the second half but popped up to score the late winner. Scoring some crucial goals this season.

Subs:

Welbeck N/A | Only on for the last 10 minutes but went close with a lovely long-range effort. Great to see him back.

WATCH THE GOALS FROM THE GAME HERE

So it was another poor performance overall and our sloppy starts need to rectified asap. We just can’t keep starting games so poorly and allowing the opposition to build leads so easily. Big improvements needed.