[Player Ratings] Arsenal 4-1 Sunderland: Giroud + Wilshere Shine For Gunners

Arsenal eased past Sunderland 4-1 at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon to keep pace at the top of the Premier League, Here are Gooner Mac’s player ratings.

Olivier Giroud helped himself to a brace during a comfortable days work for Arsenal with Tomas Rosicky and Laurent Koscielny also getting themselves on the score-sheet against the Black Cats.

Here are my player ratings:

Szczesny 7/10

The Pole would have been disappointed to lose his clean sheet after Giccherini slammed home from 20 yards following his poor punched clearance, but he was otherwise very good. He commanded his area well and made a couple of decent saves.

Sagna 7/10

Was very good at right-back during the first half before being forced to fill in at left-back early in the second period. The Frenchman eventually reverted to centre-back when Koscielny limped off so his versatility was certainly put to good use.

Monreal 6.5/10

The Spaniard was looking good down the left before he was withdrawn at half time. There were no signs of him carrying a knock so it’s most likely just a precaution.

Mertesacker 7/10

Strong presence at the back once again and made some impressive interceptions. Will be in for tougher tasks in the coming weeks though.

Koscielny 7.5/10

Well placed header for the fourth goal and was generally impressive before limping off midway through the second half. Fingers crossed it’s not serious as he would be a huge loss.

Wilshere 8/10

An excellent display by Jack. He bossed the midfield and played his part in the opening goal while he was also involved in the third. Was also seen limping near the end but he didn’t come off so could have just been a bit of cramp.

Arteta 7.5/10

Solid performance by Arteta. He looked strong in midfield so perhaps the weeks rest has done him some good.

Rosicky 7.5/10

Sublime link-up play with Giroud and Wilshere resulted in Rosicky’s delicate chipped finish which capped a fine days work.

Cazorla 7/10

Was afforded more freedom today with Ozil not playing but Santi spent most of his time on the right wing when perhaps we could have seen him more in the middle. Decent shift nonetheless.

Podolski 6.5/10

Almost scored with a powerful effort in the first half and had an impressive 98% pass completion rate, but many of those were simple short passes. He looked eager to impress but didn’t really do enough to force Wenger to leave him in next week.

Giroud 8/10

The perfect way to mark his ‘comeback’. Decisive finish for the opening goal and showed a real instinct for the second, as he pounced on a poor back pass to slot home from a difficult angle. He also set up Rosicky for the third with a neat touch.

Subs:

Jenkinson (6), Flamini (6), Gnabry (6.5).

So we’re back to within a point of Chelsea and the top three stay as as they were with City also picking up three points. We now have a weeks rest before taking on Stoke next weekend which starts an extremely difficult run of fixtures that will define our season.

You can watch the goals from Arsenal 4-1 Sunderland here

How did you rate the Arsenal players? Leave your thought below.