Arsenal fought back impressively to seal a comeback victory against West Ham United, with Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski grabbing goals after Carlton Cole opened the scoring.
Player ratings follow below.
Wojciech Szczesny – 5/10
Wojciech Szczesny committed his first error since the opening day of the season to allow Carlton Cole – of all people – to score.
Luckily for the Pole, no one remembers errors in the games you win.
Bacary Sagna – 7/10
Always a great outlet on the right – as illustrated by his dangerous crosses early on.
Kieran Gibbs – 7/10
Switched off for Carlton Cole’s goal, but was otherwise an impressive presence both in defence and attack.
Per Mertesacker – 7/10
Per Mertesacker is the leader in this Arsenal side, and though the whole side fell asleep for the West Ham goal, he restored order afterwards with calm organisation.
Thomas Vermaelen – 6/10
Still leaves space behind due to gambles attacking the ball ahead of him.
Mikel Arteta – 8/10
Although not as bustling a midfielder as Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta is an underrated presence in this Arsenal side. Made 87 passes and four tackles as he tidied up ahead of his defence.
Aaron Ramsey – 5/10
Aaron Ramsey looked out on his feet early on in the game, and had to be substituted after 65 minutes due to what appeared to be a thigh muscle strain. Whilst the Welshman wasn’t at his best today, the rest could do both him and the Gunners good in the long term.
Fortunately for Arsene Wenger, Jack Wilshere will be back from suspension for the north London outfit’s next game.
Theo Walcott – 9/10
Theo Walcott isn’t always involved in games directly, but his sheer presence in the side forces teams to defend deeper, afraid of the England international’s pace.
Mesut Ozil – 8/10
Created chance after chance, and was back in impressive form after a quiet few games. Should have done better with a scoring opportunity, but kept composure well otherwise.
Santi Cazorla – 8/10
Santi Cazorla played his best match since he returned from injury. The Spaniard was back to his old bustling self, involved in play all over the park, and performed well both on the flanks and in the centre after Aaron Ramsey went off injured.
Olivier Giroud – 6/10
Olivier Giroud squandered three good chances in the first half, and looked short on confidence, but the France forward still recovered well to assist Lukas Podolski’s goal late on to seal the victory.
Substitutes:
Lukas Podolski – 9/10
In his first appearance since August, Lukas Podolski provided a tremendous assist and scored with a typically brilliant finish.
The German attacker averages a goal every 35 minutes of play this season, and has scored with three of his five shots this season.
Mathieu Flamini – 7/10
Mathieu Flamini was brought on for Ozil with ten minutes remaining to shore things up, and did a good job.
Nicklas Bendtner – 6/10
Nicklas Bendtner was only on the pitch for five minutes, but was unlucky not to score with his only chance.
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