[Player Ratings] Aston Villa 0-0 Arsenal: Gunners Fail To Fire In Drab Stalemate

Arsenal laboured to a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa at a wet and windy Villa Park on Saturday evening. It was a dull and uninspiring affair with few chances. We were one-paced and barely got out of first gear. Villa went closest to scoring when they hit the bar, Koscielny missed our best chance in the first half but a draw was probably a fair result.

The draw leaves us in sixth, trailing fourth-placed Chelsea by four points with the blues playing Man City on Sunday. Here are my player ratings from the game.

Arsenal Ratings

Szczesny – 7 – Made a couple of routine saves before pulling off a stunner when he denied Holman from long range with a finger-tip onto the bar.

Jenkinson – 6.5 – In for Sagna and did OK. Got forward to support Chamberlain on the right but crosses were relatively poor. Although he didn’t have much to aim at in the box!

Mertesacker – 7 – Dealt with the awkward Benteke pretty well. Cleared from several corners and made a number of important interceptions.

Koscielny – 7.5 – Made several surging runs forward with one resulting in him blazing over from close range. He should really have scored but good to see him trying to make things happen when those in front aren’t doing the business. Made some excellent tackles as well.

Gibbs – 7 – Great to see him back and we have definitely missed his pace down the left in recent weeks. He was bursting forward in the first half and set up a couple of half-chances in the second period. Left some gaps at the back though.

Arteta – 6 – His questionable form continues. His legs look tired and he wasn’t really at the races today, sitting far too deep. Struggled to dictate play and control the game as we’ve become used to seeing.

Ramsey – 6 – Saw more of the ball than Arteta and had a couple of hopeful shots at goal, but he still lacks quality when it matters most. Blazed over when he should have done better at the far post.

Cazorla – 6 – Definitely in need of a rest. When he was on the ball he showed his quality in a game that lacked it badly, but unfortunately he wasn’t in the game nearly enough.

Podolski – 4.5 – Saw a half-chance blocked but apart form that didn’t have an opportunity to let that lethal left-foot loose. Hardly got involved and i’m still not convinced he’s comfortable on the left side. He didn’t look up for tracking back to help out Gibbs on a wet rainy evening in Birmingham. Subbed AGAIN.

Chamberlain – 6 – Wasteful in possession too often but at least he was trying to put some energy into proceedings when he was on the ball. Nice bit of skill ended in a shot at goal early on but he’s not really taking his chance to stake a claim for a first team place during Walcott’s absence.

Giroud – 5 – One lovely lay-off and a decent cross to set-up Koscielny was about the Frenchman’s contribution. Worked hard still, but was totally isolated.

Subs:

Gervinho – 5 – Kicked the ball out of touch twice in 2 minutes after coming on. Had little positive impact on the game.

Arshavin – 5 – Adding little to a poor game.

Coquelin – N/A

So a forgettable game but one that has to be seen as a real opportunity for three points wasted. Villa worked hard but lacked quality and if we produced a semi-decent performance we would have turned them over.

What were your ratings from the game? Get involved in the comments section.