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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Simon Collings

Arsenal player ratings vs PSV: Ramsdale howler as toothless Martinelli and Nketiah struggle

Arsenal suffered their first defeat since the start of September as they lost to PSV Eindhoven.

The Dutch side were the better team on the night, winning 2-0 and having three more goals ruled out for offside too.

Joey Veerman and Luuk de Jong got the vital goals in the end, but Cody Gakpo twice had the ball in the net as well and so did Xavi Simons.

In contrast, Arsenal struggled to perform all night and defeat means they are yet to secure top spot in their Europa League group.

Simon Collings was at the Philips Stadion to see Arsenal in action...

Aaron Ramsdale 4

Had a howler for the second PSV goal as he came to punch a corner but got thin air. Did improve after that and made a few good saves.

Takehiro Tomiyasu 5

Controlled Gakpo really well last week at Emirates Stadium but had a more challenging night this time. Still one of the better defenders.

William Saliba 5

Nowhere near the level he can play at as he had a difficult night in Eindhoven. Struggled to deal with the pace and trickery of Xavi Simons.

Rob Holding 4

Was poor for the first goal as he allowed De Jong to roll him and play in Veerman. Taken off with around 25 minutes to go as Arsenal pushed for a response.

Kieran Tierney 5

Got forward on a few occasions and put balls in, but didn’t really have much of an impact. One of many players to have a quiet night.

Martin Odegaard 5

Did not influence the game like he normally does. Had one good chance before half-time, but it was blocked. Taken off before the hour mark.

Albert Sambi Lokonga 5

Was fine in the middle of the park, but didn’t really pull up any trees. He has called for more minutes, however he wasn’t great here and was hooked before the hour mark.

Granit Xhaka 5

Another player who had a sub-par performance. Has been one of Arsenal’s best players this season, but couldn’t get into the game tonight.

Fabio Vieira 6

Probably Arsenal’s best player on the night, but that isn’t saying very much to be honest. Had a few nice touches and crosses into the box.

Eddie Nketiah 4

Started this Europa League campaign brightly, but he just never really got into the game here. Night summed up by him missing a good chance late on.

Gabriel Martinelli 4

Playing his 100th game for Arsenal but he had an off-night. Struggled in possession and missed a glorious chance just before half-time too.

Substitutions

Bukayo Saka (Odegaard 57’) 5

On and tried to get Arsenal going, but couldn’t make an impact.

Thomas Partey (Lokonga 56’) 5

Came on to steady the ship but Arsenal remained ragged.

Gabriel Jesus (Holding 64’) 6

Lively off the bench and actually gave Arsenal some threat going forward.

Ben White (Tomiyasu 74’) N/A

Gabriel (Tierney 74’) N/A

Subs not used: Hein, Cedric, Nelson, Cirjan, Smith, Ibrahim

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