Arsenal Player Ratings for their shock defeat against Baggies
The Gunners suffered their first defeat of this season’s Barclays English Premier League at the hands of the Baggies. Arsenal endured a horrible 90 minutes, which were largely dominated by the newly promoted West Bromwich Albion. They weren’t playing their
usual high tempo and quick passing game. Gunners looked atrocious, lacking their usual spark with fatigue being an evident factor.
Arsenal were missing their vital players on the weekend as they had an enormous list of injured players. The captain Cesc Fabregas along with Robin Van Persie and some other main players were all out of action. Their absence clearly had its toll as there
appeared to be no life in the Gunners’ starting eleven without them. The desire of retaining and regaining the ball seemed poor alongside the defensive intensity.
Three consecutive second-half goals from Baggies saw Arsenal admit defeat with two of the goals coming in just two-and-a-half minutes. The Gunners did try to stage a late comeback largely owing to Samir Nasri, but it was too little, too late.
Once again, it came down to the lack of presence in the goal with the veteran goalkeeper, Manuel Almunia making some horrendous errors that cost his squad dearly. The Spaniard allowed a shot to slip under him for the second West Bromwich goal while also
failing to deal with a through ball that resulted in the third goal.
Almunia was still lucky to stay on the field despite fouling the impressive Peter Odemwingie in the penalty area. However, the 33-year-old keeper somewhat redeemed himself by saving Chris Brunt's poor attempt.
To add salt to the wounds, current EPL title holders Chelsea also failed to win against the big spenders, Manchester City. Chelsea succumbed to their first defeat losing by 1-0.
Player Ratings:
Manuel Almunia, 4
Manuel Almunia made some smart saves especially the penalty shot one. But, it seems that all of his strong efforts this season have been undone as his bad traits re-emerged. The Spaniard should have contained Gonzola Zara's long range attempt on the goal.
He should have also managed to stop the through ball that resulted in the winning goal of the match.
Bacary Sagna, 5
This strong Frenchman displayed some poor performance on the pitch. Sagna seemed to be completely dominated by the West Bromwich Albion’s winger, Jerome Thomas, who set up one while scored another. Still, the French left back of Gunners was a handy contributor
in the attack area.
Sebastien Squillaci, 5.5
The new signing of Arsene Wenger, Squillaci caught out too often and failed to deal with the sheer speed of Albion attack. The French defender was strong in the air mostly but still not a memorable performance.
Laurent Koscienly, 5
This young French defender was completely dominated by Odemwingie as well as being caught out of position. Koscielny looked like suffering lapses in concentration. The 25-year-old centre back was substituted midway through the second half.
Gael Clichy, 4.5
Clichy was continuously beaten down the left flank, which heaped the pressure on his fellow defenders. He was also quite wasteful on the ball while hardly worth mentioning in attack.
Alexandre Song, 6
It was an up-and-down performance by the Cameroon midfield. Song worked tremendously well but was guilty at times of lackluster passing and poor decision-making.
Abou Diaby, 5
The Frenchman failed to make his presence felt, often anonymous or wasteful.
Samir Nasri, 7.5
Samir Nasri was the man of the match for the Gunners. The French midfielder began with his usual slow start but was always Arsenal's greatest threat. He truly took over the responsibility in skipper's absence and was able to score two superb goals at the
Emirates.
Emmanuel Eboue, 5
It was ironic to see the Ivorian starting for the Gunners. It was a somewhat lifeless performance from the usually lively Eboue. He didn’t perform well in the defense too.
Andrei Arshavin, 4.5
It was yet another poor performance from the Russian skipper. His performances are growing increasingly frustrating for the Arsenal faithful. Arshavin rarely works for the ball and is often lazy and selfish with it.
Marouane Chamakh, 5.5
The Moroccan attacker, although, worked hard but still looked fatigue and lifeless just like a number of his other teammates.
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