Gyokeres flops, Dowman wows – Arsenal player ratings in loss v Villarreal
Arsenal’s defensive frailties were on show as they lost 3-2 to Villarreal at the Emirates Stadium in a pre-season friendly on Wednesday (6 August).
The Gunners conceded twice in the first-half as Nicolas Pepe came back to haunt his former team with the opener inside 17 minutes and Etta Eyong doubled the visitors’ lead in the 34th minute.
New signing Christian Norgaard quickly got his side back into the game with a headed goal from a corner two minutes later, but Villarreal were able to restore their two-goal lead in the second-half as Arnaut Danjuma fired home.
Highly-rated Arsenal star Max Dowman won a penalty soon after, which was dispatched cooly by Martin Odegaard, but the Gunners were unable to grab another and the game ended 3-2 to the La Liga side.
Arsenal’s defence struggles on the break
David Raya – 5
Should have been much stronger for both of Villarreal’s first two goals, with his weak parrying leading to an easy finish for the opponent on both occasions.
Ben White – 6
Passive. It was a quiet showing for White as he continues to build up his fitness following a long-term injury, but he rarely put a foot wrong all game.
William Saliba – 6
An unusually shaky showing from the Frenchman as he struggled to deal with Villarreal’s pacey forward pairing.
Jakub Kiwior – 5
Poor. Did not help his centre-back partner as he also struggled to keep up with the Spaniard’s impressively fast counter-attacks.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 5
Produced some strong defending and was good on the break, but got caught napping on occasion and should have done better for the second Villarreal goal.
Norgaard goal amid midfield frustration
Ethan Nwaneri – 6
The youngster was impressive going forward and in the half-spaces, but sometimes left his midfield partners with too much work to do when he lost the ball in the middle of the park.
Christian Norgaard – 6
Caught out in transition a few too many times in the first-half, but he did take his header well and will no doubt be a serious threat off set-pieces this season.
Mikel Merino – 6
Similarly struggled when Villarreal countered, and maybe missed Declan Rice’s influence in midfield. Went to centre-forward late on and could not really get into the game.
Gyokeres endures tough Arsenal debut
Bukayo Saka – 6
His usual busy self, gave Sergi Cardona a tough time in first-half with some darting runs forward, but will feel like there is so much more to come as the new season edges closer.
Viktor Gyokeres – 4
Very quiet. It was not a dream full debut for the Swede following his high-profile move to the Gunners from Sporting. He got on the ball and tried to make things happen every so often, but was not on the same wavelength as his teammates. Will need to get up to speed soon to match the anticipation.
Gabriel Martinelli – 6
Good delivery from a corner for the first Gunners goal, and did well on the front foot when he did get the ball, but that was not often enough as he fights for his place with Noni Madueke.
Dowman stuns off the bench
Martin Zubimendi (for Norgaard 46′) – 6
Had a quiet second half as he kept the game ticking over well. Will want to do more to prove to Arteta that he should be starting games each week this season.
Christhian Mosquera (for White 46′) – 5
Slow. The summer signing will need to buck his ideas up based on this performance, where he seemed to get caught out and ran past every time an opponent took him on, and kept committing fouls.
Gabriel (for Saliba 62′) – 5
A largely easy end to the game but he did get caught sleeping for Villarreal’s third goal, where he tried to play offside near the halfway line but didn’t realise that his teammates hadn’t.
Declan Rice (for Gyokeres 62′) – 6
Rice came on in midfield to allow Merino to go up-front, and he could not do much wrong with the game that was being played, as he just ticked it over and looked to get Arsenal on the front-foot.
Max Dowman (for Nwaneri 62′) – 9 – Player of the Match
Generational. 15-year-old Dowman has been catching the eye in pre-season and his tricky play won yet another penalty in this game. He was the Gunners’ main threat in the latter stages and did his first-team chances absolutely no harm.
Kepa (for Raya 62′) – 5
Should have done better for Danjuma’s goal as the ball seemed to be fired underneath his diving hand, and that was effectively all he had to do.
Jurrien Timber (for Kiwior 62′) – 6
Like many others that came on for the last half-hour, Timber was rarely called upon to break a sweat and he did what he needed to do well.
Martin Odegaard (for Saka 62′) – 7
Dynamic. Took his penalty well and threaded some nice passes into space for the wingers to run on to.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (for Lewis-Skelly 76′) – 6
The Ukraine international had a quiet cameo as he tried to get into the feel of the game. Did not do much to challenge Lewis-Skelly, which has been the story of the last 12 months.
Noni Madueke (for Martinelli 76′) – 7
Got down the line well late on and stretched the game, but to no avail. Interesting to see him come on at left-wing for Martinelli, as he is mainly a right-winger but looks set to switch sides for good under Arteta.