Arsenal v Swansea: Player Ratings

Catching a great deal of flak for letting the goal in, but I find it largely unfair. Gomis had his man well beaten in the air, so at most Ospina could maybe have guessed near post but that’s tenuous at best.

Did well for much of the game in handling Montero, though the showed some inexperience on the scoring play. Not bad, not great.

Was solid when called on, but Swansea’s few forays forward left the center of Arsenal’s defense alone for the most part.

Made some good tackles up the pitch but his positioning left some questions to be asked on the Gomis goal. Floating between Mertesacker and Monreal, a good ball from Montero beat him easily.

Swansea got down the left a few times during the match, but he’ll get the most stick for being summarily beaten by Gomis for the goal in the 86th minute. I may seem like an apologist and his defending was weak in that instance, but who’s really expecting Monreal to beat that man in the air?

Withdrawn in favor of Jack Wilshere, it’s a testament to his importance to the side that Arsenal fans feel much more uncomfortable when he’s not prowling in front of the defense. Didn’t give the ball away poorly as much as he had in recent weeks.

Bit of a dry game for Cazorla, out of line with his rich vein of form this half of the season. Struggled to do much against a compact and extremely defensive Swansea. Driving from deep doesn’t work too well when you’re just going to hit a brick wall.

Aaron Ramsey is an inventive player, but he needs to understand when to fire those engines. When playing a team set up like Swansea or Chelsea or Stoke, the momentum of a counter is the single greatest weapon to winning. Pick the lock all you like, it’s far preferable to beat down the door and he had numerous instances of off-pace passes and flow-killing possession.

MAN OF THE MATCH- Played well, put himself about well, was physical. Tried to pick the lock with some combination play but was most effective when drifting out to the wings and trying to catalyze from there.

Really should have scored twice, but failed to work Fabianski (as did the rest of the side). Most important thing is to rest up for the final matches of the campaign.

Not really happening for him lately, but that’s mainly due to the insane attention he receives from defenders now. Reason for optimism? He’s striking balls pinged into him first time with quality contact. That’s a new Giroud we haven’t seen before.

Came on and showed he’s trying to lock down a starting spot. His best chance is Aaron Ramsey’s, but wouldn’t fit well into the right wing.

The staff here was chatting during the match about this being “Theo’s Chance” and to some extent they were right. A goal would have won him some good will, especially after being brought on for the more physically threatening Olivier Giroud. Instead, he tapped one tamely to Fabianski and drilled another right into his arms that he certainly should have scored.