PLAYER RATINGS: Arsenal Start Title Challenge With 2-0 Win Against Wolves
Title hopefuls Arsenal host Wolves with only one thing on their mind. Three points.
They got what they wanted. Saka scored and assisted. Havertz done the same. Wolves still have lots of Portuguese players.
Let’s get into the ratings.
Player Ratings
Arsenal
David Raya (7): Made a phenomenal save in the 35th minute to deny Larsen. Read the newspaper for the rest of the game, pretty much.
Ben White (5): Didn’t win a single duel all game, until the last five minutes. Perhaps if the opposition was called “Sun Bed,” he would have been more eager.
William Saliba (7): Colossus for most of the game. Had a moment of madness to gift Cunha a wonderful chance. Lucky for him, he squandered it.
Gabriel (6.5): Probably could have laid on the floor most of the match. Didn’t really have to do much defensively.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (6): Wasn’t great, wasn’t awful. Just a bang average performance from the Ukrainian.
Thomas Partey (7.5): Excellent defensively, and for some reason he was creating chances like he was playing as a No. 10.
Martin Odegaard (7): The beating heart of Arsenal’s midfield offensively. He lacked strength in his individual duels, though.
Declan Rice (7): Some good short passes in the final third. Linked the attack and midfield excellently.
Bukayo Saka (9): The cross for the Havertz goal was sublime. His strike was an incredible finish. What a player!
Kai Havertz (8.5): Pressing was spot on, and the header for his goal was a fantastic finish. Returned the favour to Saka later on. An incredibly intelligent player.
Gabriel Martinelli (7): Lively, but felt like he still needed to have something more in attack. Was highly involved in the game.
Subs
Jurrien Timber (7): Extremely lively after coming on. Despite signing last season, he’s like a new one now due to his injury.
Leandro Trossard (N/A): He is Belgian.
Gabriel Jesus (N/A): Got himself a yellow for trying to get in on the Mosquera BDSM action.
Wolves
Jose Sa (6): Couple good saves, a couple decent high claims. Commanded his box well from corners. Potentially could have done more for the Saka goal, but it was a great finish.
Matt Doherty (6.5): Good performance from Doherty. Got forward well, always looked for the ball, and made quite a few back-post clearances.
Yerson Mosquera (6): Had a moment of BDSM with Kai Havertz, which was a bit strange. Then grabbed Jesus’ bum. Even stranger. A couple nice defensive actions here and there.
Toti Gomes (5): A game to forget for Toti Gomes, who was runned ragged by Kai Havertz.
Rayan Ait-Nouri (7): He was Wolves’ bright spark on the day. Solid on both ends of the pitch. Had a hard job containing Saka and did well for the most part.
Mario Lemina (6): Decent performance in midfield, but nothing to write home about.
Joao Gomes (5): Kept the ball well, but the Arsenal midfield proved too dominant for him today. Only won 25% of his duels.
Rodrigo Gomes (5): Struggled to make an impact and get himself into the game. O’Neill will hope to get more from him throughout the season.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (4): You wouldn’t even know he was on the pitch. It was not a surprise that he was the first to be subbed.
Jorgen Strand Larsen (4): Should have scored in the first half. Tried a bicycle kick at one point. That’s his highlights.
Hwang Hee-Chan (6): Was fairly quiet but also lively. Gave Zinchenko quite a few problems.
Subs
Matheus Cunha (6): Was gifted a glorious chance but made a mess of it. Will likely start the next game.
Daniel Podence (N/A): A Portuguese Wolves player.
Craig Dawson (N/A): Made two passes. Completed them both.
Pablo Sarabia (N/A): Nearly scored a volley. But it had no power.
Chiquinho (N/A): Touched the ball twice. Also a Portuguese Wolves player
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