[Player Ratings] Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal: Toothless Gunners Do Enough At St James’

Arsenal did just enough to take home the three points after a Fabricio Coloccini own goal gave us a 1-0 win over Newcastle at St James’ Park this afternoon.

After Aleksandar Mitrovic was dismissed after 16 minutes, Arsenal took control and although we missed a number of chances in front of goal, Coloccini put through his own net following a shot from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shortly after half time to secure the three points.

These are player ratings from Gooner Mac:

Cech  6/10  |  A virtual bystander for much of the game. Wasn’t tested at all by the hosts.

Bellerin  6/10  |  Did well to stifle the wide threat from Newcastle but wasn’t as influential in the final third as he might have been.

Koscielny   6/10  |  A comfortable afternoons work from the Frenchman.

Gabriel   7/10  |  Another impressive shift and the Brazilian will now surely be pushing to keep Mertesacker out the team on a regular basis.

Monreal   6/10  |  Kept Sissoko relatively quiet and didn’t put a foot wrong.

Coquelin    7/10  |  Made some important tackles and interceptions and was on the wrong side of some rough treatment, but held his own.

Cazorla    7/10  |  Controlled the game and enjoyed a lot of the ball as we dominated possession. Went close with a couple of chances too.

Ramsey    7/10  |  Back playing centrally and he was lively in the No.10 role in the absence of Ozil.

Oxlade-Chamberlain   6/10  |  Forced the goal with a low shot but was otherwise disappointing.

Sanchez   7/10  |  Worked hard to create chances and was denied by a fine Krul save, but Alexis did hold on to the ball for too long on occasion.

Walcott   5/10  |  Unlucky as he wasn’t given any space as the Newcastle back-line dropped deep after the early sending off. Although Theo did waste one golden opportunity to score from close range.

Subs:

Giroud  5/10 | Missed a great chance at the end to make it 2-0.

Arteta N/A

So it was a solid display from Arsenal against 10-men but we were toothless in attack. We created 20 shots but needed an own goal to grab the winner, and this is something the boss needs to address quickly.