[PLAYER RATINGS] Norwich 1-2 Arsenal: How The Gunners Got On

Arsenal had to fight hard to overcome Norwich 2-1 today. Not for the first time, we made things hard for ourselves and an individual mistake from Per Mertesacker left the Gunners having to come from 1-0 down. Up steps the man-of-the-moment, Robin van Persie. Another classy double sealed the win and three points that lift Arsenal in to fifth in the table.

Many players were guilty of missing chances and of sloppy passing today, but on another day the scoreline would have been far more comprehensive. The most important thing is Arsenal escaped with all three points despite being wasteful and sloppy. Here are my player ratings:

Player Ratings:

Szczesny – 6.5 – Norwich only had two shots on target, and the Pole could do little for the goal. Not too much to do other than dealing with a few set pieces.

Koscielny – 6.5 – Looked far more comfortable at right back than Djourou. A few stray forward passes but slotted in at full back well.

Vermaelen – 8.5 – Superb. Arguably MOTM, put his head on everything and made some dangerous forays forward as well. Invaluable at the back.

Mertesacker – 5 – Horribly nieve for the Norwich goal, which against stronger opposition may have cost us points. Needs to be far more assured against the physical forwards of the premier league.

Santos – 6.5 – The Brazilian worries me. He looks like he’s got mistakes in him, and was far too caviller on occasion. Took too many chances in such a tight game, but he got away with it today and in general played ok.

Song – 6.5 – Looked tired, which isn’t surprising after playing two games for Cameroon recently. Not his best day and gave away possession a few times.

Ramsey – 8 – The best of the midfield trio. Rambo was everywhere and ran his heart out for 90 minutes.

Arteta – 7 – Another steady game from the Spaniard. Could have done better with a late chance to put the game to bed, and made a couple of uncharacteristic sloppy passes in the second half.

Gervinho – 6 – Looked lively in the first half, making several driving runs at the Norwich defence and should have scored on at least one occasion. But faded badly in the second half.

Walcott – 8.5 – Great performance from Theo, especially the first half when he was unplayable. Skinned Thierny on several occasions, was unlucky not to score and set up RVP for the equaliser. Terrific stuff.

Van Persie – 9 – What more can be said? Another match-winning performance from the Dutchman. His second goal was a stunning finish and his all-round play was amazing. Irreplaceable.

SUBS:

Benayoun – 6 – On for Gervinho with only 15 minutes left and kept the ball well.

Djourou – N/A

You can watch all the match highlights here.