Newcastle United 0-1 Arsenal: How Arsenal Players Are Rated

The Gunners picked the three points of the season as the team defeated Newcastle 1-0 at the St James Park in Sunday’s Premier League clash.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second-half strike was enough to help the team win their first away game of the season.

Soccernet’s Augustine Akhilomen rates the the performance of the Arsenal players against Newcastle.

Bernd Leno – 5

Great save from Shelvey in the first half, but barely anything else to do as Newcastle struggled to carve out chances.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles – 6

Looked off the pace in the opening exchanges but grew into the game and was heavily involved in the goal, jumping onto an under-hit pass and clipping in a brilliant cross for Aubameyang.

Callum Chambers – 6

Preferred over new signing David Luiz and was quietly impressive, calmly dealing with the threat of Joelinton.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos – 6

Not the usual all-action display from Sokratis but solid after Arsenal dealt with an early storm from the Magpies.

 Nacho Monreal – 6

Rarely looked under threat defensively but did his job with the minimum of fuss and provided good support in attack during the opening 45 minutes.

Matteo Guendouzi – 7

Showed some lovely touches to create space in midfield and tidied up well to neutralise counter attacks.

Granit Xhaka – 6

Quiet game for the Swiss international, who got through plenty of donkey work in the engine room without really shining and slowed the game down when he needed to, antagonising the opposition.

 Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 4

A frustrating afternoon for Mkhitaryan, who carried the ball well but then flopped with some truly abysmal deliveries and was lucky to stay on as long as he did.

Joe Willock – 7

Didn’t look out of place despite his inexperience and will take great confidence from a busy display.

 Reiss Nelson – 7

Went in the book for a cynical foul on Fabian Schar but was on set-piece duty and produced some excellent deliveries while he also caused a buzz when running at the Magpies defence.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 7

Denied by a good stop from Martin Dubravka before breaking the deadlock with a perfect touch and finish just before the hour. Led the line energetically.

SUB: Dani Ceballos (on for Willock, 63 mins) – 5

An eye-opening debut for the Spaniard, who wasn’t afforded any time to settle.

SUB: Nicolas Pepe (on for Mkhitaryan, 70 mins) – 5

Almost had a chance to open his account but wasn’t found by Aubameyang’s cross.

SUB: Gabriel Martinelli (on for Mkhitaryan, 83 mins) – N/A