Arsenal took on Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon with an unchanged lineup from the side that drew 0-0 against Sunderland last weekend.
It was a tense affair which saw the visitors with the better chances in the first half, with Nathan Redmond having a few opportunities to put Norwich ahead if not for Petr Cech’s brilliance in goal.
Protests from supporters ensued from the 12th minute, although the division of #WengerIn to #WengerOut was obvious and fewer than 100 people appeared to be involved, while the remainder sang in favour of the Frenchman.
Little was created by Arsenal in the first period and the sides went into the break drawing 0-0.
Into the second half and a surprise substitution saw Alex Iwobi withdrawn for Danny Welbeck, with the England international’s impact felt within minutes.
He combined well with Olivier Giroud – who fans wanted to see withdrawn, to score a volley that put the home side a goal to the good just before the hour mark.
The score ended 1-0, thanks to the substitutes effort.
Not a convincing performance but all three points were awarded nonetheless.
How did the players rate?
Petr Cech: 9/10 (Man of the Match)
Made a few wonderful saves, including one with his legs early on to deny Nathan Redmond.
Reminded everyone why he was such a good by last summer.
Hector Bellerin: 5/10
Defended fairly well but didn’t provide too much going forward, when he did get forward his crossing appeared to let him down time and time again.
Needs to improve in that department, desperately.
Per Mertesacker: 6/10
The big German had a pretty solid performance and made a few timely interceptions but was withdrawn early in the second half with what looked like a hamstring injury.
Laurent Koscielny: 7/10
Kos had a solid game, won everything and dealt with the threat of Cameron Jerome pretty well.
Getting back to his consistent best level again.
Nacho Monreal: 6.5/10
It’s sad that Monreal just doesn’t give enough going forward because he is a very, very good left back.
Defensively, he could be arguably the best in the world.
Had a solid game.
Mohamed Elneny: 8/10
The driving engine in midfield, again.
Elneny has rarely performed to a level below an 8/10 since joining in January and constantly looked to get the ball to feet and spray it around.
Had a good shot at goal well saved.
Aaron Ramsey: 5/10
Average from Rambo, he didn’t do too much with the ball when he had it and looks as though he’s suffering from confidence issues quite severely.
Alexis Sanchez: 5.5/10
Alexis had his worst game for Arsenal in around a month.
That’s not to say he was bad, he just didn’t give much in the final third.
Twisted and turned, looked good and had Martin Olsson on toast.
Mesut Ozil: 6/10
It all seemed quite a frustrated performance from Ozil, who really wanted to get those assists but just couldn’t.
He played arguably the pass of the season into the feet of Alexis but the Chilean wasted it. What a goal that would have been.
Other than that, pretty quiet.
Alex Iwobi: 5.5/10
Iwobi was energetic and searched for the ball aplenty but didn’t provide the game changing touch.
Was withdrawn for Welbeck.
Olivier Giroud: 6/10
Better from Giroud but not great.
He’s pretty poor in front of goal to be honest but he made the game-changing assist for Welbeck.
Substitutes:
Danny Welbeck: 8.5/10
Welbeck came on and changed everything, he added energy to Arsenal’s slow game and scored the winner.
What more can be asked of a substitute?
Gabriel: 7/10
Made a vital interception from a cross that could have seen Mbokani score the equaliser. Was pretty good from the moment he was introduced.
Francis Coquelin: 5/10
Tidied things up and kept it solid in front of the defence.