Arsenal finally came to life in 2018 with a victory that eases the pressure of Arsene Wenger as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey scored first-half goals in a thoroughly impressive 2-0 victory at AC Milan.
While the attack fired, the defence held up for once as Laurent Koscielny and company shook off their recent disastrous form and put on a masterclass at the San Siro.
The display brought an end to Milan’s 13-match unbeaten run. Below, we dish out the ratings to a fine Gunners performance.
STARTING XI
David Ospina – Crucial intervention to whip the ball of Nikola Kalinic’s feet late on – a superb sweeper keeper for Arsenal, even though he barely had a shot to save. 7
Calum Chambers – Showed tons of heart but was sloppy in possession, with on error nearly allowing Hakan Calhanoglu to slip past Ospina. Went close down the other end. 6
Laurent Koscielny – Where had this type of performance been all season? A warrior at the back and nearly faultless as he cut off the supply to a bullied Patrick Cutrone and Co up front. 9
Shkodran Mustafi – Gave ball away in horror position and he was lucky that Cutrone could only find the side netting. Mistake cannot be forgotten entirely, but followed Koscielny’s brave lead for much of the game. 7
Sead Kolasinac – Was once too easily beaten by Suso and did not exploit overlap against an underwhelmed Davide Calabria to its full extent. Satisfactory if not spectacular. 6
Granit Xhaka – Another derided member of the Arsenal squad put in a mighty performance worthy of display at the San Siro. Wonderfully controlled with ball at base of midfield and – just about – did not lose his temper in defence. More of the same needed. 8
Aaron Ramsey – Back to best after injury and cracked Milan open like an egg before deftly rounding Gianluigi Donnarumma and scoring the Gunners’ second. Stuck his foot a little too eagerly in midfield, but a hugely successful return. 7
Jack Wilshere – Not as protective of the ball as some of his other team-mates but was a crucial component of Arsenal’s effervescence in the first half. 7
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – After a woeful opening 10 minutes you feared for him – few would have thought this kind of response was in him. Could have bit a second but for the crossbar. Showed off his majestic dribbling ability for once. 8
Mesut Ozil – Arsenal fans wouldn’t mind his frequent disappearing acts if he inserted moments of brilliance like he did in this match. Breathtaking ball to Mkhitaryan set up the opener, and took the defence out of the game for Ramsey’s run. 8
Danny Welbeck – Wonderful pass to Mkhitaryan nearly resulted in a second for the Armenian. That aside, his touch is always a fraction too rough or his balance a shade too off to look comfortable around Arsenal’s more graceful footballers. 6
SUBS
Ainsley Maitland-Niles – Came on for a yellow-carded Kolasinac but was rather shaky and many of Milan’s late forays came down the left side. 6
Rob Holding – Came on for the last 10 as the onslaught continued and held up well. 7
Mohamed Elneny – No disaster in the dying moments of game, couldn’t get a hold of the ball though. N/A
