A mixture of bad luck, poor finishing and questionable (at best) officiating meant that a side managed by Tony Pulis once again lost at the Emirates as West Brom fell to a 2-0 defeat.
West Brom should have had a penalty early on when Shkodran Mustafi fouled Jay Rodriguez but referee Bobby Madley did not give the decision.
Albion also spurned a number of clear-cut chances and were made to pay by Alexandre Lacazette, who scored twice for the Gunners.
Here’s how I rated the Albion players in the game:
Ben Foster - 6
Pretty solid as usual. Couldn’t do much with the first goal or the penalty.
Allan Nyom - 4
Given a tough time by Alexis and was rightly called for a penalty.
Craig Dawson - 6
Looked pretty comfortable all night and used the ball well. Looked like he might be sent off for a second yellow at one stage but Madley kept his cards in his pocket.
Jonny Evans - 5
Evans seemed to struggle with the pace of the game. He was beaten a few times and gave away too many free-kicks, one of which led to a goal.
Ahmed Hegazi - 8
Albion’s best player on the night, saved a certain goal with a challenge on Monreal and was constantly thwarting attacks.
Kieran Gibbs - 7
Kept Hector Bellerin quiet all night.
Gareth Barry - 6
On the day he became the Premier League’s all time-appearance maker, Barry had a very Barry-esque game. Neat and tidy, battled hard but ultimately couldn’t control the game.
Grzegorz Krychowiak - 7
Without the ball, he closed down space so well and won the ball back plenty of times. Also showed his qualities in attack with some powerful runs.
Jake Livermore - 4
Missed an absolute sitter and gave the ball away far too often.
Hal Robson-Kanu - 6
Didn’t really get a chance, although not through any fault of his own.
Jay Rodriguez - 7
Denied a clear penalty, partly due to his own honesty before a Monreal cleared another attempt off the line. Was very good in the first half, tailed off a bit in the second.
Subs
James Morrison – 6: Found himself on the ball a lot but didn’t really create too much.
Salomon Rondon – 5: Struggled to offer much in an attacking sense and his best work actually came in defensive situations.
Matt Phillips – 5: Came on for around 15 minutes but didn’t offer a lot at all. His first cross was particularly poor.