[Player Ratings] Wolves 0-3 Arsenal: Front Three Do The Damage For Gunners

Arsenal consolidated third position as they moved five points clear of Tottenham with a 3-0 win over Wolves on Wednesday night.

I had a bad feeling going into this game but was suitably relieved when on-loan Tottenham defender Sebastian Bassong did us a huge favour when he bundled Theo Walcott to the deck in the area after just nine minutes. The ref pointed to the spot and sent the Spurs man off making our task for the evening a damn sight easier.

Up stepped Robin van Persie to dink home a delightful penalty and put us 1-0 up. Only two minutes later Van P combined well with Walcott who kept a cool head to slot home for 2-0. Nerves were settled and even Arsenal couldn’t throw away a 2 goal lead against 10-man Wolves.

Although we did our best to make life difficult for ourselves. We took our foot off the gas and were playing in first gear. Some will say that was sensible and we did what was needed with minimal effort to conserve energy. Others point to last seasons disaster against Newcastle when we let slip a 4-goal lead.

Either way, we had Szczesny to thank for keeping our lead at 2-0 after the Pole made a stunning close range save to deny Doyle. You got the feeling that had Wolves got one back at that point, they would have gone on to get a second, so Szczesny’s save was vital.

Wolves continued to work hard to try and get back in the game, but Yossi Benayoun killed their hopes when he fired home the third with 20 minutes left. So a relatively comfortable 3-0 win leaves us five clear of Tottenham with only five games left.

You can watch video highlights from the game here, and these are my player ratings for the Gunners:

Szczesny – 8 – Stunning save could well have earned us the three points. Also made another smart save late on.

Sagna – 7 – Solid as usual and got forward to join in the attacks.

Vermaelen – 7 – Kept the lively Doyle relatively quite and tried to get attacks going by bringing the ball out from the back.

Djourou – 7 – Looked comfortable alongside Vermaelen. There were no signs of rustiness after so long out the first team, and he made an important block in the second half.

Santos – 6 – You can’t help but like the guy but his casual attitude will cause problems eventually. A crazy ‘shoulder’ pass let in Knightly but Djourou was on hand to block, and he was beaten down the flank on a couple of occasions. But looks good going forward.

Song – 7.5 – Great display again from Alex. Completely dominated the middle of the park.

Arteta – 7 – Steady performance from Mikel but there was no repeat of Sunday’s heroics. Mainly because they weren’t required! Kept things ticking over and sprayed a couple of superb passes around, and a great run set up RVP who went close.

Ramsey – 5.5 – Ok, i’m not one for jumping on bandwagons and needlessly criticising players. BUT, Rambo didn’t have a great game. He fluffed at least three opportunities to score, and also failed to find a couple of through balls that would have lead to chances. He just seems to be lacking something at the minute, probably confidence, and he isn’t going to regain that by hammering him. So let’s try and support the lad and i’m sure he’ll come good.

Walcott – 7 – Another cool finish in front of goal, very similar to the one against Villa, but apart from that Theo didn’t really get in the game or create anything else of note. But a goal and an assist, so he did his job well.

Benayoun – 7.5 – Another hard-working display from Yossi. His energy and work-rate does add a nice balance to the attack and he took his goal very well too.

Van Persie – 7.5 – Lovely chipped penalty and superb assist for Theo’s goal. Just oozes class. Missed a couple of half chances but was always at the heart of everything going forward.

SUBS:

Chamberlain – 7 – Looked lively down the right after coming on for Theo.

Jenkinson – N/A

What were your thoughts on the game? Get involved in the comments section below….