Arsenal 0-0 Red Star Belgrade player ratings, stats and reaction: Giroud and Walcott less than impressive in frustrating night for the Gunners

Posted by

Arsenal were tonight held to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates by notorious ‘hardmen’ Red Star Belgrade in a lackluster night.

The point was enough to allow Arsenal to progress through to the knockout stages of the Europa League with two games to spare but the performance from the Gunners was less than impressive.

SEE ALSO:
(Video) Patrice Evra kicks his own fan in the head and is sent off before game even starts
‘Fellaini just missed out on Ballon d’Or’ – bizarre comments from this world-class football manager
Manchester United lead the way to sign Premier League superstar despite competition from Real Madrid

Arsene Wenger opted to field a relatively inexperienced side just as he did  last week in the away fixture against Red Star but this time the risk was not as effective.

Last week’s 1-0 victory was lead by the experienced quality of Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott but unfortunately they were unable to lead the line in as much of an effective manner with much of Arsenals’s opportunities being suffocated by Red Star throughout the 90 minutes of football at the Emirates.

Man of the match 

Jack Wilshere was the only bright spark for the Gunners tonight. Wilshere was the star of the show for Arsenal last week and at times looked as though he would provide the quality to give the North London side the breakthrough again this week. However, the quality from Walcott and Giroud was not present as it was last week with Wilshere growing frustrated throughout the game with his teammates.

Another 90 minutes of football under Wilshere’s belt and despite being left out of this week’s England squad it is surely only a matter of time before we see the midfielder back in a shirt for the three lions.

Flop of the match

When you’re struggling to cement a place in the starting lineup you have to grasp at any opportunity you’re given. That was not the case this evening with Olivier Giroud. The French international was isolated throughout and was unsuccessful in dropping deep to create chances for himself. In a frustrating evening it would have been far more prudent to see a more dynamic attacker running the channels in Giroud’s place such as Danny Welback or Alexis Sanchez.

Stat of the match 

Certainly not one to be proud of…

Player ratings

Arsenal: Macey 6, Debuchy 5, Elneny 6, Holding 6, Nelson 6, Wilock 5, Coquelin 5, Maitland-Niles 6, Walcott 5, Wilshere 7, Giroud 4

Subs: Nketiah 6.

Reaction

As expected many fans were frustrated with Arsenal’s performance despite securing their qualification to the next stage of the Europa League with two games to spare. 

More Stories Ainsley Maitland-Niles Francis Coquelin Jack Wilshere Joseph willock mathieu debuchy Olivier Giroud Reiss Nelson Rob Holding Theo Walcott