[Player Ratings] Arsenal 3-1 West Ham: Cazorla Back To His Best

Arsenal were forced to come from a goal down to eventually beat West Ham 3-1 at the Emirates on Tuesday night to leapfrog Everton back into fourth place.

We started poorly and Saturday’s gruelling game looked like it had sapped the energy out the team, and predictably West Ham took the lead when Jarvis headed home in the 40th minute. The major turning point was Santi Cazorla’s excellent pass finding Lukas Podolski just 3 minutes later and the German levelled things up just before half time with a fine finish.

Olivier Giroud then scored a stunning goal just after the break before Podolski sealed the win with another fine finish for 3-1.  Here are my ratings:

Szczesny 6/10

The Pole could perhaps have done a little better to gather Downing’s deflected cross as it popped up for Jarvis to head home, but he was otherwise pretty solid.

Sagna 7/10

Got forward a lot more in the second half after being pinned back by Javis in the opening 45 minutes. Another solid display from the dependable Frenchman.

Mertesacker 7.5/10

Coped superbly against the awkward threat of Andy Carroll and was a composed head at the back.

Koscielny 7/10

Resumed his partnership with Mertesacker at the back and didn’t put a foot wrong.

Vermaelen 7/10

Put in a great shift at left-back considering it’s not his favoured position. Was surprisingly keen to get forward and he provided the assist for Giroud’s goal.

Kallstrom 7/10

Looked a little nervous early on with a few stray passes but settled into the game and was largely impressive in midfield. He clearly has good vision and can pick a long pass. Impressive when you consider it was his full debut.

Arteta 7/10

Looked surprisingly fresh considering how much he put in on Saturday. Reserved his energy well by allowing Kallstrom to do most of the closing down.

Podolski 8/10

Changed the game with his excellent finish for the equaliser just before half time, then showed once again how lethal he is in front of goal with the third.

Rosicky 6.5/10

Looked a little fatigued. He still put the work in but wasn’t as influential as he normally is.

Cazorla 8.5/10

Back to his best. He’s been struggling lately but was superb in this game and pretty-much ran the show in the second half. Supplied an excellent assist for Podolski’s first and went close to getting himself on the scoresheet a couple of times.

Giroud 7/10

Up-and-down evening for the Frenchman. He was getting the brunt of the fans stick after two poor misses in the first half, the key one seeing him fluff a great chance when through on goal. However, he showed his quality with a sensational touch and finish for the second goal.

Subs:

Ramsey 7/10 – Provided a great assist for the third and was full of energy in midfield.

Jenkinson – on too late for a rating.

We were far better in the second half and if we play like that for the rest of the season, we’ll come fourth and lift the FA Cup. Let’s hope Crystal Palace can do us a favour against Everton on Wednesday night a ahead of our game with Hull at the weekend.

You can watch the goals from the game here

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