Arsenal 1-1 Atletico Madrid: Player Ratings
Arsenal (Lacazette 61') 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Griezmann 82')
Arsenal and Atletico Madrid played a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final at The Emirates. It was a horrendous start for Atletico as they were down to 10 men after just 10 minutes when Sime Vrsaljko received an early sending off.
Atleti being a man short in defense brought about a huge impact as Arsenal dominated the entirety of the game, having 77% ball possession and 28 attempts in total at goal. They were ultimately rewarded when Alexandre Lacazette broke the deadlock subsequently following the hour mark.
But the Gunners were made to pay for their poor finishing in front of goal as Diego Simeone's men grabbed a late equalizer through Antoine Griezmann to keep the tie even heading into the second leg.
Here are the player ratings:
Arsenal
David Ospina - 6/10
Ospina did not have much to do in the entire game as he faced only five shots on goal from the Atletico attack, making routine saves.
Héctor Bellerín - 6/10
Bellerin was running up on the right flank crossing the ball into the box, but none of his attempted crosses were successful.
Laurent Koscielny - 5/10
Koscielny can be partly blamed for Arsenal conceding a goal. His error cost the team due to his attempted clearance/tackle allowing Griezmann to run through on goal.
Shkodran Mustafi - 6/10
Mustafi was decent against the Atleti frontline, making three clearances and winning four aerial duels respectively.
Nacho Monreal - 7/10
The Spaniard did an equally good job in both defense and attack in the left back role, making three tackles and completing two key passes.
Jack Wilshere - 7/10
Wilshere provided the assist to Arsenal's opener following a quick interchange with Aaron Ramsey, crossing the ball to Lacazette for the goal.
Granit Xhaka - 7/10
The midfielder had four shots at goal but none were on target. However, he played in an astonishing 24 long balls and recorded a game-high 155 touches.
Aaron Ramsey - 7/10
Ramsey had numerous attempts at goal but only three shots were on target. He did play an instrumental role in the build-up to the first goal.
Mesut Özil - 8/10
Ozil had an influential game as he was ever-present when Arsenal was going forward, completing six key passes and seven dribbles with a passing accuracy of 96%.
Alexandre Lacazette - 8/10
The Frenchman had an excellent all-round performance. Not only did he score but he had an active participation in the build-up play as well, completing five key passes along with winning five aerial duels. He was impressive on the defensive end too, successfully winning three tackles.
Danny Welbeck - 6/10
Welbeck had a decent game, creating two chances on goal and doing a good job of retaining possession while tracking back in defense, intercepting the ball on a couple of instances.