[Player Ratings] Arsenal 2-2 Swansea: Gunners Unlucky But Still Lacked Spark

Arsenal were dealt a crushing blow after conceding a last minute equaliser at home to Swansea on Tuesday night.

We battled back from going behind early with Lukas Podolski turning the game on it’s head with a goal and an assist for Giroud, but just as it looked like we’d secured a vital win, a calamitous Flamini own goal in the last minute saw us drop two points.

Here are my ratings:

Szczesny 6/10

Looked badly positioned for the Bony goal as his near post was far too exposed and he didn’t even bother diving for it. Had little else to do and was unfortunate with the second.

Sagna 6/10

Got into plenty of forward positions, especially in the first half, but his final ball was wasteful. Solid enough at the back though.

Mertesacker 6.5/10

Fairly composed at the back but the defence was all over the place for the late equaliser and we needed Per to step up and help shut the Swans out.

Vermaelen 6/10

Was beaten far too easily by Bony for the opening goal and was dragged out of position for the second.

Gibbs 7.5/10

Very impressive shift from the left-back. He set up the equaliser with some great work and was one of the few players who can say he gave it his all.

Flamini 6/10

Was very unfortunate with the own goal but he should have tracked the run of Britton earlier and got goal side quicker, which would have prevented the goal. It’s his job to sniff out that sort of danger.

Arteta 6/10

Not at his influential best. Looked a little tired to be honest.

Cazorla 6.5/10

Pretty quiet night for the Spaniard. When he saw the ball he was very good but didn’t get on it enough. He did force a decent save from Vorm in the first half though, which was one of our only attempts on target.

Rosicky 6/10

Disappointing final ball from the Czech international throughout the game. Wasn’t really his night.

Oxlade-Chamberlain 6.5/10

Looked lively in the first half but was surprisingly taken off early in the second. Perhaps he had picked up an injury.

Giroud 6/10

Finally bust a gut to get into the box for his goal, but we didn’t see enough of it, especially int he first half. Such a frustrating player sometimes.

Subs:

Podolski 8/10 – The German changed the game. Great improvised finish from close range before setting up Giroud’s goal with an excellent cross.

Kallstrom 7/10 – Made his debut for the last 10 minutes and was surprisingly good. Made some decent passes and got about the pitch well.

Sanogo N/A – On too late.

A frustrating night. We might just have done enough to deserve the win, but really we didn’t create a lot for our dominance on the ball and Swansea always looked dangerous on the counter attack. We certainly miss the spark the likes of Ozil, Walcott, Ramsey and even Wilshere can bring us, and we’re bang unlucky to be missing those sorts of players all at once.

The players looked terrified not to win the game and that obviously contributed to the poor defending for the equaliser. We panicked and Saturday’s debacle clearly had a role to play in that.

City up next and on this display, as well as our previous performances against the big-boys, I fear for us. We need to get things right and quickly, and we missed a chance to gain some much-needed confidence tonight.

You can watch the goals from the game here

What were your ratings from the game? Share your views below….