Arsenal earned a hard-fought victory against Tottenham this afternoon. Here are the player ratings.
David Raya 7.5
Kept busy as Tottenham got off a few shots in both halves, but he was always ready to deal with the few threats that went through the strong Arsenal defence.
Ben White 7
His costly mistake in the first half could have led to a goal, but otherwise, he dealt well with the threat of Son Heung-min and Tottenham’s attack.
Jurrien Timber 8
He was in the mood in this derby, making runs forward, sliding into tackles, and chasing every ball down while defending fantastically well against Brennan Johnson and getting booked for his troubles.
William Saliba 8
Solid as usual, and his defending against Dominic Solanke saved White’s blushes. Booked for time-wasting, but he was solid overall.
Gabriel Magalhaes 9
He was excellent today. Almost unbeaten in all his duels on air and on the ground. Always on hand to make the important blocks and clearances, he scored the game’s only goal with a firm header to cap a stunning display.
Thomas Partey 7
Protected the defence brilliantly and was willing to block every ball and stop Spurs midfield runners, making sure they could not make much inroads through the middle.
Jorginho 6.5
Came into the side because of Declan Rice’s suspension and was solid in midfield without being spectacular.
Leandro Trossard – 6.5
Seems to perform better when he comes off the bench, but did his best to bring the creative spark Martin Odegaard would have provided.
Bukayo Saka 8
He was a constant threat for Destiny Udogie to deal with, and he gave the Italian a tough day. Matched a Premier League record with his assist for the goal. Arsenal will hope his injury is not serious.
Kai Havertz 7
Arsenal’s biggest attacking threat in some spells and could have opened the scoring when he connected well with a cross, but Guglielmo Vicario saved. Did not get a goal, but had a good game.
Gabriel Martinelli 7
Too much pace and trickery for Pedro Porro and the entire Tottenham defence to handle. He should have gotten on the score sheet but will be happy with his performance.
Substitutes
Gabriel Jesus – N/A
Raheem Sterling – N/A
Ethan Nwaneri – N/A
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Rode our luck at times but created our own luck with the sheer to determination of thou shall not score attitude
From front to back our players have grown a mental desire of a will to win or not lose
May be it’s just me but our boys have grown In to men
They look taller, bigger, stronger then the opposition
Another big test mid week and next week but a good start to get us going
Another season where North London is red and white
I think Arteta/Edu have purposely gone in for recruiting larger players (where possible). Adding the likes of Calafiori into the mix along won’t hurt either.
There have been times in the not too distant past when Arsenal have looked to be a little intimidated physically by “bigger” teams/players.
Especially notable in midfield – Rice, Merino, Havertz – all powerful lads who cover plenty of ground and can play bit too.
Plus Fabio Vieira has been shipped out.
Sorry for nitpicking, but for Saliba to not have learned from Rice’s silly mistake just a week ago and pick up a potentially devastating yellow card is unforgiveable.
Did the manager not have given stern warning to his troops not to make the same mistakes again?
Agree but it requires the players to realise for themselves. They were told. Does Arteta need to remind them of everything?
Gabriel Martinelli is no where near 7,maybe 6 for defensive duties. He’s not at Arsenal level. He didn’t offer anything going forward at all. Very soon when he’s run out of gas he needs to be discarded.
That’s a little harsh
Martinelli did his best. What will you do if you are always marked by four players
We don’t have a 9 so there’s always no pressure
Like many wingers, he is a confidence player and I thought we saw that confidence coming back and we all know what he can do when it returns – hit 15 premier league goals in a season.
This is his sixth season at Arsenal and for most of the time he has been excellent, even recovering from a very serious injury. Last season was a bit of a dip but we need to stick by him
I agree with Darlington..Martinelli has been below par for a season and a half now..Sterling shukd start ahead of him…he is the weak link now…I’d give him a 5.5
Our defence shined through and even gave us the winning goal
I agree with the ratings
We are away to City next week but we will have Rice back at least
I don’t expect Odergaard to play next week so I think we will need to make a change or 2 to get some sort of spark in attack
I think Nwaneri deserves a rating
The midfield came alive with him there, even though it was just for few minutes
It showed that there was an attacking midfielder when he was there
Trossard just kinda filled the position without really knowing how to do what the role requires (doesn’t mean he didn’t play well – he actually did but couldn’t be the attacking midfielder that anchors our creativity, Nwaneri did that)
Thanks and it’s a positive decision he is 17 and he will learn a lot
Martinelli and Saka helped Timber/ White a lot to defend, using their pace
Havertz’s aerial ability made Raya able to escape from Spuds’ high-press easily with his long distribution
Raya’s ball-handling and decisions were excellent too
@Gai I think Matinelli needs to be unselfish when he needs to pass a ball for others to score. He is trying too hard to score a goal. I bet his defensive abilities is one reason Arteta kept choosing him. It’s difficult to argue that Gabriel& Saliba aren’t the best CB pairing in Epl. The team is united.
Martinelli could’ve faked his shot or passed to Saka, but I’m sure he’s learned from his mistake
We’re so lucky to have Saliba and Magalhaes
Gabriel Magahlase was a monster, Saliba was close on his heels.
There is still life left in Sterling, and he seems bent on playing Wenger ball.
Raya has vindicated the gaffer, up next could be the former Man City man.
The Big German was massive for us and so too was Timber
If Timber keeps playing this way,our defence will be a hard nut to crack.
He just needs to work on his crosses so that they reach the intended target.
I really rated Timber today. Previously a weak point that teams would exploit no longer looks so weak. Smaller than our other players but showing he will not be bullied.
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Happy to see Timber recent injury haven’t affected his performance.
Suddenly Gabriel Magahlase is the go to defender, the recent made Brazilian international has move from strength to strength,
Arsenal were superb in theor defensive work and proved that they are up for another title challenge
This was, overall, a good result and satisfactory performance but we have to cautious about reading too much into the outcome as Spurs’ form is actually not that good. Spurs have flattered to deceive for months. They are currently stuck in mid table form and have really only done well against lower level teams.
The next couple of games will give us better insights into where we are as a team.
Mostly agree with the ratings, however I thought Partey was a disaster waiting to happen when in the ball. Takes to long to pass, miss placed a few and just looked over all nervy to me
Thebush, I concur with you. I will be very surprised if Partey is here next season, as I reckon Rice will take the DM role.