Alexandre Lacazette sees red and Matteo Guendouzi struggles in Arsenal ratings at BATE

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  • 10-man Arsenal endured a night to forget in Thursday’s round-of-32 opener in the Europa League after an unmarked Stanislaw Drahun earned BATE Borisov a famous 1-0 win and Alexandre Lacazette was dismissed for a violent elbowing.

    On a freezing night in Belarus and a cabbage patch of a pitch at Borisov Arena, Drahun rose to nod in a 45th-minute free-kick. This goal ended a 495-minute spell without conceding in the competition by Unai Emery’s men.

    Worryingly, the Gunners then struggled to craft clear openings against opponents who last played a competitive match on December 13. Lacazette first saw a sharp finish from Sead Kolasinac’s cross ruled out for offside before the hour mark, then was given his marching orders for unforgivably lashing out at Aleksandar Filipovic in the 85th minute.

    The teams reconvene at Emirates Stadium on February 21.

    ARSENAL (3-4-2-1)

    Petr Cech 6: Watching brief for the retiring Czech Republic veteran upon his return to the XI for cup action. Blameless for the goal.

    Shkodran Mustafi 5: Most notable moment of struggling centre-back’s night was a move to right-back in second half to facilitate Aubameyang’s arrival.

    Laurent Koscielny 5: Showed early hesitation for Mustafi’s flick. Then created moment of uncertainty with Cech. Not at his best.

    Nacho Monreal 5: His clumsy foul on Skavysh caused the free-kick that sparked BATE’s goal. Doesn’t always convince in a three-man defence.

    Ainsley Maitland-Niles 4: Had just one inaccurate cross to show for his paltry evening’s work. Must grasp these chances.

    Matteo Guendouzi 4: French teenager struggled to exert control on an awful surface. Gave the ball away a leading seven times for the error-strewn visitors.

    Granit Xhaka 5: Picked up de rigueur booking for an unnecessary tug back. Lost possession six times and was hooked after hour mark.

    Sead Kolasinac 5: Failed to pick up Dragun when midfielder broke the deadlock. This was game’s defining error. But led way with seven key passes.

    Henrikh Mkhitaryan 4: Would be interesting to hear Ozil’s thoughts if he tuned in from England after yet another inconsequential display by the Armenian, whose admittedly recovering from injury.

    Alex Iwobi 5: Nigeria attacker tried to make things happen for the Gunners. Final pass, however, was lacking.

    Alexandre Lacazette 2: Offside flag correctly denied him what would have been a well-taken leveller. Frustration at lack of service boiled over with wild elbow on Aleksandar Filipovic.

    SUBSTITUTES

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 4: Thrown on in the 67th minute, yet failed to produce a single attempt on goal.

    Lucas Torreira 5: Uruguay midfielder tried to add some drive and quality. Failed in this mission.

    Denis Suarez 6: At least looked busy. Barcelona loanee produced five crosses and one key pass.

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