[Player Ratings] West Brom 2-1 Arsenal: Wasteful Gunners Blow It Against Baggies

Arsenal wasted the chance to go top of the Premier League table after letting slip a lead to lose 2-1 at West Brom on Saturday afternoon.

We opened the scoring through an Olivier Giroud header midway through the first half but West Brom levelled things up with a fine Morrison strike before Mikel Arteta put through his own net to make it 2-1 at half-time.

Arsenal dominated proceedings after the break and were gifted the perfect chance to grab a late point when Alexis Sanchez was fouled in the area in the 86th minute, but Santi Cazorla slipped as he took the spot kick and blazed it well over the bar.

Here are my ratings:

Cech  6/10 | Could maybe have done better to cut out the cross that led to the eventual winner but was otherwise solid.

Bellerin  5/10 | A tough game for the youngster. Failed to read the cross which led to the equaliser and didn’t cut out the cross that led to the winner.

Koscielny  6.5/10 | Made a couple of important interceptions.

Mertesacker  6/10 | Not at fault for any of the goals but looked shaky at times.

Monreal  6.5/10 | Gave the ball away a few times but was otherwise solid enough.

Coquelin  N/A | Off injured inside the opening 15 minutes. Hopefully it’s not serious.

Cazorla  6/10 | Controlled much of the game from midfield but will be remembered for his awful penalty miss right at the end.

Gibbs  6/10 | Didn’t look comfortable playing left-wing. Was rather wasteful before being subbed for Campbell.

Ozil  7.5/10 | Yet another assist for the German schemer. Hit the post early in the second half and played some lovely passes.

Sanchez   7.5/10 | Full of energy and worked his nuts off trying to make things happen. Won the penalty after being hauled down by Brunt.

Giroud  6/10 | Scored a decent header but was otherwise largely anonymous.

Subs:

Arteta 4/10 | Unfortunate to give away the free kick that led to the equaliser but what was he doing for the own goal? Off injured just minutes into the second half.

Flamini 5/10 | Little impact after replacing Arteta.

Campbell  5/10 | Missed a superb chance to make it 2-2 just minutes after coming off the bench.