Mesut Ozil enjoys fine 200th Arsenal appearance in our player ratings from Newcastle win

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Former Germany superstar Mesut Ozil marked his 200th Arsenal appearance with the eventual winner in a 2-1 Premier League victory at Newcastle United.

    After no shots on target from either side in the first half at St. James’ Park, Switzerland centre midfielder Granit Xhaka broke the deadlock with a fine free-kick on 49 minutes.

    Newcastle’s worst start in nearly 20 years then seemed certain when Ozil – rumoured to be at odds with Emery – effortlessly placed the ball past the despairing Martin Dubravka inside the penalty box less than 10 minutes later.

    Unmarked Republic of Ireland centre-back Ciaran Clark headed in the hosts’ second attempt on target, in second-half injury time. But the Gunners held on for a third-successive top-flight win under new head coach Unai Emery.

    ARSENAL (4-2-3-1)

    Petr Cech – 6: Easy as you like for the Czech Republic veteran. Faced one shot on target prior to Clark’s unstoppable late header, and there were no awkward moments when playing out from the back.

    Hector Bellerin – 5: The Spanish right-back should have reveled in this task. Newcastle were toothless in attack, but he could only deliver one cross.

    Shkodran Mustafi – 5: Arsenal’s first top-flight clean sheet of the season was denied in second-half injury time when the Germany centre-back lost Clark.

    Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 6: Stood up well to anything Newcastle offered, prior to Clark’s late consolation – from which he was blameless.

    Nacho Monreal – 7: Showed younger countryman Bellerin how it is done. Made joint-second-most crosses for Gunners with two.

    Matteo Guendouzi – 5: Led the way with three tackles and 97.5-per-cent pass accuracy for the Gunners by half-time. But was still hooked at interval for Lucas Torreira.

    Granit Xhaka – 7: Produced a thunderbolt with a left-footed set-piece to put Arsenal ahead in eye-catching fashion. Only visiting player to enjoy more than 100 touches.

    Mesut Ozil – 7: Marked 200th Arsenal appearance with a typical goal – nonchalantly passed past goalkeeper Dubravka. This was also his first appearance in the north east since he arrived in 2013.

    Aaron Ramsey – 6: Kept it tidy in advanced role ahead of the two anchormen. Hooked later on for Danny Welbeck.

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 5: Had the joint-most attempts with two, but the Gabon superstar left no lasting impression on proceedings before second-half removal. Few signs of usual chemistry with Alexandre Lacazette.

    Alexandre Lacazette – 6: Teed up Aubameyang for a good effort. The French striker was otherwise selfless rather than predatory. Blocked shot fell to Ozil for critical second.

    SUBS

    Lucas Torreira – 7: A pass accuracy of 77.4 per cent was far worse than expected. But Arsenal came alive when the Uruguay centre midfielder came on at the interval.

    Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6: Armenia playmaker made little impression during his spell on the pitch.

    Danny Welbeck – N/A: Was crowded out and saw a shot blocked when played in late on.

    Recommended