Player Ratings From Arsenal’s 2-0 Win Over Cardiff

Arsenal left it late to beat Cardiff City 2-0 at the Emirates on New Year’s Day. Here, blogger Gooner Daily gives us his player ratings from the game.

Just when we thought that it was going to be one of those days when things didn’t go according to plan, Arsenal left it really late to score the goals that sent them back to the top of the Premier League. As expected, Arsene Wenger waxed lyrical about Nicklas Bendtner’s cameo performance and expressed his regret over his injury that could sideline him for a couple of weeks.

Listed below are the Gooner Daily player ratings for Arsenal’s late heroes in the home clash with Cardiff City:

Wojciech Szczesny: The big Pole was pretty much a spectator during the course of the game but he showed his alertness in quelling some attacks from the opposition forwards. His save from Mutch was pretty much routine but his late save from Caulker was top notch stuff. 7/10

Nacho Monreal: The fullback’s last outing against Manchester City was very disappointing but he put in a much-improved performance, as he offered an outlet on the left and lofted the cross that led to Arsenal’s relieving opener. 7/10

Bacary Sagna: The Frenchman didn’t really offer much on the final third but he did very well defensively. It was his presence in the box that played a big role for the match opener. 7/10

Per Mertesacker: The BFG did very well with his defensive duties but he had two clear cut headed chances that were missed when it seemed easier to score. 7/10

Laurent Koscielny: With Thomas Vermaelen out with a sickness, Koscielny worked in tandem with the BFG to keep the Cardiff forwards at bay. 7/10

Mathieu Flamini: The Flamster added some steel to the midfield and always made himself available for a pass. Had to be sacrificed when the Gunners needed to add some attacking verve to their play. 7/10

Mikel Arteta: The inspirational leader dictated the tempo of the game and added stability to the midfield. Maintained the balance of the team when they went for broke looking for the killer goal. 7/10

Jack Wilshere: Arsenal’s poster boy put in his best performance yet. He was at the heart of everything good from an attacking perspective and he made the team tick. To crown a great day in the office for Wilshere, he supplied a sumptuous assist to Theo Walcott for the game clincher. 9/10

Santi Cazorla: The diminutive Spaniard was a thorn in Cardiff’s flesh and his trickery was on show yet again. He threaded a couple of neat passes over the course of the game and should be satisfied with his performance. 7/10

Theo Walcott: Worked his skins off on the right hand side and supplied some quality balls into the box that were not finished off by Per Mertesacker and Nicklas Bendtner. Received a lovely pass late on from Jack Wilshere and chipped in Arsenal’s match clincher to take his tally to five goals in five games. 8/10

Lukas Podolski: The German machine put in a scintillating cameo against West Ham but his frailties were exposed when he played up front yesterday and he failed to make his mark on the game. Was replaced by Nicklas Bendtner after a somewhat torrid outing. 6/10

Subs:

Tomas Rosicky: Hit the ground running as he arrived on the pitch as he added bite to Arsenal’s attack and made a couple of good passes in the final third. His energy, work rate and determination were on display yet again. Shame he’s already reaching his twilight years at 33. 7/10

Nicklas Bendtner: Games have come few and far between for Bendtner but since he decided to put his head down and play some football, his manager showed some faith in him and since his goal against Hull, he has made a couple of cameo appearances off the bench in the course of the season. Yesterday, he replaced Podolski and missed a sitter from a Walcott cross but he reacted quickly to slam home a rebound. Shame he got injured afterwards. 7/10

Thomas Vermaelen didn’t play long enough to get a rating.

Do you agree or disagree with Gooner Daily’s post match thoughts and match ratings? Feel free to share them with your comments below.