Football Features

    Norwich 2-2 Arsenal: Full player ratings as Aubameyang saves Gunners’ blushes

    By Mohamed Moallim

    Published: 16:00, 1 December 2019

    Freddie Ljungberg could not mark his first game in charge of Arsenal with a victory as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Norwich City.

    The Gunners had to come from behind twice with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has scored all but one of their seven league goals away from the Emirates Stadium this term, once again proving to be their saviour.

    It’s a result that compounds further misery on the north London side but a ‘what could have been’ moment for the hosts, who went ahead twice through Teemu Pukki and Todd Cantwell before being pegged back.

    Here’s how the players rated at Carrow Road:

    Norwich City

    Tim Krul – 6 – Pulled off another stunning penalty save to deny Aubameyang, but it didn’t count as it had to be retaken, nevertheless another good day at the office from the Dutch shot-stopper.

    Max Aarons – 4 – Didn’t really put a foot wrong, aside from encroaching into the penalty area on Aubameyang’s missed penalty, it was retaken and the Canaries were punished.

    Christoph Zimmermann – 5 – Unclear what he was doing when an unthreatening Mesut Ozil ball into the penalty area somehow managed to find his hand thus giving Arsenal a chance to immediately respond after going behind.

    Ben Godfrey – 6 – Was most certainly up for this game, the 21-year-old centre-back pulled off no fewer than two tackles and equipped himself well.

    Sam Byram – 5 – Encouraged to get forward as much as possible, despite this Byram retained his defensive responsibilities to put in another good shift.

    Ibrahim Amadou – 6 – Played the box-to-box role well in the heart of Norwich’s midfield, had two shots on goal in the game, the same amount of tackles he made in the engine room.

    Tom Trybull – 6 – Sat a tad deeper than his central midfield partner Amadou and never really looked to be involved in a goalscoring moment, instead opting to just keep things ticking over.

    Todd Cantwell – 7 – Executed a lovely finish to put Norwich back ahead on the stroke of half-time, yet another to add to his growing scrapbook of Premier League moments.

    Kenny McLean – 6 – Playing in the hole behind Pukki, the Scottish international wasn’t going to be asked twice to venture beyond the Finnish striker if the opportunity arose and it was his pass that led to Norwich’s oponer.

    Onel Hernández – 7 – Headed off the line early into the game to keep the game goalless before teeing up Cantwell to register his fourth of the season just before the half-time whistle was heard.

    Teemu Pukki – 7 – After what seemed like an eternity, eight Premier League matches to be precise, the Pukki Party recommenced much to the Carrow Road faithful’s delight. He got a tad fortunate with his strike, but they all count.

    Substitutes:

    Emiliano Buendía (for Cantwell 83) – N/A – A late sub.

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    Arsenal

    Bernd Leno – 7 – Nothing he could do for both goals and on a personal note must be getting frustrating that he’s being kept more busy than an Arsenal goalkeeper should.

    Calum Chambers – 5 – An interesting choice to start at right-back, though his height came in handy as he won no fewer than three aerial duels, more than anyone on the pitch.

    Shkodran Mustafi – 5 – Making a rare Premier League start this season Mustafi wanted to seize this chance to impress interim boss Freddie Ljungberg and cement a first-team starting berth. He was unlucky Pukki’s goal took a big deflection of him but did certainly not cover himself in glory.

    David Luiz – 4 – Backing off when a centre-forward is bearing down on goal never ends well and Luiz – given his experience – should have known better, if he had been more proactive then Pukki wouldn’t have had all that time and space to put Norwich in front.

    Sead Kolašinac – 5 – Back into Arsenal’s starting lineup, the defender made up for lost time and with the Gunners dominating possession he always proved to be an outlet on the left flank.

    Matteo Guendouzi – 4 – Struggled to impose himself in Arsenal’s midfield and would not complete the full 90 minutes.

    Granit Xhaka – 5 – A controversial selection given recent events that saw him stripped of the captaincy, this was another typical Xhaka performance. He got stuck in but was ineffective.

    Joe Willock – 4 – Ljungberg was always going to give Arsenal’s youngsters a chance but on this occasion the game passed Willock by.

    Mesut Özil – 7 – No one can question his commitment today, the former German international did his job, created no fewer than four chances – more than his Arsenal teammates combined (3).

    Alexandre Lacazette – 6 – Led the line for the Gunners but seldom had a sniff on goal, just one shot on target in a game his strike partner looked back to his best.

    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 8 – Got pretty lucky after his saved penalty had to be retaken after Aarons had encroached. He wasn’t going to waste a second opportunity to level proceedings and also took his second goal well.

    Substitutes:

    Lucas Torreira (for Willock 70) – 5 – You know what you’re going to get from the tenacious Uruguayan midfielder but he couldn’t stamp his authority here.

    Bukayo Saka (for Guendouzi 78) – 5 – Had adventure in his boots and was proactive once coming on but the game started to get away from the visitors.

    Gabriel Martinelli (for Özil 89) – N/A – A late sub.

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