Arsenal 2-0 Leeds: Player ratings as Gunners ease past mediocre Leeds
By Chris Deeley
Arsenal cruised into the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup past a reasonably strong Leeds side at the Emirates on Tuesday night, with second-half goals from Calum Chambers and Eddie Nketiah sealing the victory.
The Gunners made a handful of changes from Friday night's win over Aston Villa, while Leeds made four of their own as they continue to look to turn around a slow start to the 2021/22 season.
The home side had the better of the early running, but it took a scrambled goal from a second-half corner to really stamp their authority on the match – before a defensive mix-up allowed them to put the game out of sight.
Arsenal player ratings
1. Goalkeeper & defenders
Bernd Leno (GK) - 7/10 - Sharp save from Jack Harrison midway through the first half, and judged his ventures off his line very well.
Cedric (RB) - 5/10 - Put a corner straight out of play. Remember when Pepe was a set piece delivery expert? And now he's behind this joker.
Ben White (CB) - 7/10 - Played with confidence and command against his former team, before going off injured.
Rob Holding (CB) - 6/10 - A fairly calm performance from the captain on the night. Hair transplant looked good.
Sead Kolasinac (LB) - 6/10 - Disappointingly sedate.
2. Midfielders
Mohamed Elneny (CM) - 6/10 - Yep, he was definitely on the pitch for 72 minutes.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (CM) - 7/10 - Bright enough spot in midfield. Maybe he's not an auxiliary wing-back after all.
Nicolas Pepe (CAM) - 5/10 - Couple of nice spin moves! But also fell over his own feet and kept running into trouble. And then kept giving the ball away.
3. Forwards
Emile Smith-Rowe (RW) - 6/10 - Could maybe have done with a night off, but ran around manfully enough. Did miscue one decent chance in the first half.
Eddie Nketiah (ST) - 7/10 - Looked dangerous in the first 15, drifted out of the game a little after that, but took a lovely touch over Meslier for his goal (even if he tried to stuff up the finish).
Gabriel Martinelli (LW) - 7/10 - Full of energy, and absolutely terrorised Leeds' debutant right-back. How much so? He ended up tied for the most tackles in the game.
4. Substitutes
Calum Chambers (56') - 7/10 - Came on as Arsenal had a corner, and scored from that corner. That'll do.
Alex Lacazette (72') - N/A
Sambi Lokonga (72') - N/A
Nuno Tavares (76') - N/A
Leeds player ratings
5. Goalkeeper and defenders
Illan Meslier (GK) - 6/10 - Sawn off horribly by Liam Cooper for the second goal, but his 'save' for the first would've been better if he hadn't been behind his own line when he made it.
Cody Drameh (RB) - 6/10 - Got terrorised by Gabriel Martinelli in the opening 20 minutes, but settled into his Leeds debut well as the game progressed.
Diego Llorente (CB) - 6/10 - Had to babysit Drameh a little, came off just after the opener.
Pascal Struijk (CB) - 6/10 - Hard to fault the general defending too much for either goal. Only Cooper.
Stuart Dallas (LB) - 6/10 - Absolutely a player who featured in this match.
6. Midfielders
Adam Forshaw (CM) - 5/10 - Off at the half after being largely ineffectual.
Kalvin Phillips (CM) - 6/10 - Asked to do a lot in a fragmented midfield battle. He's had better days, he's had poorer ones too.
Tyler Roberts (CAM) - 6/10 - A couple of bright flashes, snuffed out by some not-shambolic Arsenal defending.
7. Forwards
Dan James (RW) - 6/10 - It's Dan James. He ran fast and didn't produce as much as he should've. Y'know. Like Dan James does.
Rodrigo (ST) - 5/10 - Doesn't know what offside is, maybe?
Jack Harrison (RW) - 7/10 - Had maybe Leeds' best chance with a close-range shot that forced Leno into a fine save in the first half.
8. Substitutes
Mateusz Klich (46') - 6/10 - Insipid second half, insipid sub.
Joe Gelhardt (53') - 6/10 - Great name. Absolutely acceptable player.
Liam Cooper (59') - 4/10 - Horrible, awful, no-good header back in the general direction of Meslier allowed Nketiah to score the second goal with ease. Don't do that.
Crysencio Summerville (70') – N/A
Sam Greenwood (70') – N/A