Arsenal ratings v Köln: Welbeck and Giroud struggle in poor defeat
Arsenal did secure their place as top spot in Group H despite a 1-0 loss to Bundesliga strugglers FC Köln on Thursday night.
Sehrou Guirassy scored the decisive goal as he went down under a challenge from Mathieu Debuchy and the striker stepped up to despatch the resulting spot kick.
Starting XI
David Ospina: Didn’t have much to do up until the penalty decision, and could do nothing about that. Unlucky not to have a clean sheet. 6
Mathieu Debuchy: Was penalised for a clumsy challenge (albeit a harsh call) on Sehrou Guirassy for the penalty and the opening goal, but other than that was impressive. Worked very hard. 7
Per Mertesacker: Was rarely troubled by a one-dimensional Köln attack and looked comfortable throughout. 7
Rob Holding: Like his centre-half partner, didn’t have much to do and looked confident throughout. 7
Calum Chambers: Was given a chance at full-back but found himself straying too narrow too often. That said, not a bad performance. 6
Mohammed Elneny: Didn’t grab the game by the scruff of the neck like expected and was often found to be lacking tempo. 6
Francis Coquelin: Came close to breaking the deadlock during the first half but other than that was unspectacular. 6
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: An energetic and bright performance on the left flank. Encouraging for Arsene Wenger. 7
Jack Wilshere: Got the ball in dangerous areas, made some good decisions on the ball and was the one really forcing the game for the Gunners. 7
Danny Welbeck: Got some minutes under his belt, but that’s about the nicest thing that can be said. Subbed at half-time, largely ineffectual. 5
Olivier Giroud: Must have been the most frustrated man on the pitch. Feeding off scraps and didn’t have one major opportunity apart from a ball brought down in the area which was well cleared. 6
Substitutes
Alex Iwobi (for Welbeck, 45′): Certainly had more impact than Welbeck and worked hard, but looks a bit short on confidence. Perhaps could have done with a start. 6
Reiss Nelson (for Chambers, 67′): Came on to try and create for Arsenal but just wasn’t really the right situation for him to thrive in. 6
Eddie Nketiah (for Debuchy, 84′): N/A
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