[Player Ratings] Besiktas 0-0 Arsenal: Giroud Poor But Chambers Superb

Arsenal drew 0-0 with Besiktas in the first leg of their Champions League play off on Tuesday night. Here are Gooner Mac’s ratings from the game.

It was a game lacking in quality or clear cut chances but both sides will still leave a little disappointed they didn’t nick a winner. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came off the bench to smash the post late on while Aaron Ramsey was given his marching orders for two soft bookings.

Let’s hope for better next week, but we should be confident of progressing to the group stages. Here are my player ratings:

Szczesny 6.5/10 – Almost caught out in the opening seconds but made a couple of decent stops to deny Ba.

Debuchy 7/10 – Another impressive performance from the Frenchman. Was probably our most potent attacking threat in the second half.

Monreal 6.5/10 – Worked his socks off and got himself forward on occasion, particularly in the first half. Lacked a little bit of quality in his delivery though.

Koscielny 7/10 – Very good display from Kos as he made some important blocks, but looked like he may have been limping late on.

Chambers 8/10 – Hugely impressive from the youngster. A performance beyond his years. Just one slip in the first half in an otherwise faultless display.

Arteta 6/10 – Kept things ticking over before he was forced off with an ankle injury. Hopefully it isn’t serious but it didn’t look good as he left the field.

Wilshere 6.5/10 – Was showing some signs of his old self in the first half, playing some neat one-two’s, but was less impressive after the break.

Ramsey 5/10 – Very disappointing from Rambo. Wasn’t at his best for most of the game before he got himself stupidly sent off for two soft bookings.

Cazorla 5/10 – Another who was well below his best. Just couldn’t get in the game.

Alexis 7/10 – The Chilean was lively in the opening exchanges and created some dangerous opportunities. Was less involved in the second half as we struggled to create anything of note.

Giroud 5/10 – Well off the pace. His touch and control was poor all night, although he was unlucky not to open the scoring in the first half when his attempt was cleared in a goal mouth scramble.

Subs:

Flamini 5/10 – On for Arteta but did little other than get booked.

Oxlade-Chamberlain 7/10 – Unlucky not to grab a late winner when his shot was tipped on to the post. Should have started, or at least come on earlier.

On to the Emirates next Wednesday where we should have more than enough to see off a very average Besiktas side.