Henrikh Mkhitaryan didn’t feature in Arsenal‘s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, as he was cup-tied for the Carabao Cup final embarrassment. That gave the Gunners playmaker an opportunity to show how much of a difference he could be as Arsenal took on the same opponents in the Premier League on Thursday.
Ultimately, however, the Armenian was on the receiving end of another City masterclass, much like his teammates had been four days ago, as the new signing from Manchester United had little impact during another 3-0 loss for Arsenal.
Here’s a closer look at how Mkhitaryan performed.
KEY STATS
Goals – 0
Assists – 0
Shots – 2
Shots on target – 1
Passing Accuracy – 71%
Key Passes – 1
Dribbles – 1
Touches – 69
EFFECTIVENESS
It’s hard to comment on the effectiveness of a player in a game like this. Arsenal were over-run all over the pitch, and Mkhitaryan was a victim of that. But it’s also his responsibility to try turning the game around, and to his credit, he was a willing runner throughout and was responsible for two occasions where Arsenal nearly scored. The second one came when he won a penalty which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failed to convert – rather summing up Arsenal’s night. Overall, however, Mkhitaryan wasn’t able to provide the sort of moments he’s capable of, and the quality Arsenal needed in order to hit back in the face of Manchester City’s onslaught.
Ineffective: Mkhitaryan yet again didn’t show up in a big game in the Premier League.
KEY MOMENTS
13th min, SHOT: A flowing Arsenal move ended with Mkhitaryan in space to shoot, and he duly let fly. However, his effort was straight at Ederson.
52nd min, PENALTY: Another good Arsenal move found Mkhitaryan in the box, and when the ball flicked up off him, he was clumsily bundled over by Nicolas Otamendi to give the Gunners a glimmer of hope. Alas, Aubameyang missed the penalty and Arsenal didn’t threaten again the rest of the match.
VERDICT – 5/10
The knock on Mkhitaryan was that he often went missing in big games, and performances like Thursday nights will do nothing to dispel that notion. It was visible that the Armenian was trying hard for his team, but he couldn’t produce any of the quality he’s known for. His partnership with Aubameyang – the partnership which had Arsenal fans salivating, the one that dominated the Bundesliga – is non-existent at the moment, and it showed against City. From an individual standpoint, the 29-year-old didn’t look like a threat at all to City, thus failing his brief as an attacking player.
