Mikel Arteta opted to play what was effectively a b side for Arsenal’s Champions League second-leg game against PSV Eindhoven and got the sort of result and performance you’d expect from such a decision.
The Gunners were already 7-1 up on aggregate going into the match and all but through the quarter-finals, so it would be hard to describe the display as all that surprising.
The 2-2 scoreline was probably just about a fair enough reflection of the encounter, as both sides had chances to claim victory.
Moreover, while some squad players made a good account of themselves, like Raheem Sterling, others probably played themselves out of the lineup for Sunday.
Sterling's performance vs PSV
It’s no secret that this season has been something of a disaster for Sterling, and so going into last night, it was potentially the last chance he’d had to show Arteta that he still has something about him, and while the circumstances made it a bit of a nothing match, that’s what he did.
For what felt like the first time in months, if not the entire campaign, the Chelsea loanee looked full of life, and even though it didn’t pay off every time, he was trying to make things happen whenever he got the ball.
The Kingston-born star provided the assists for both goals and could have scored two of his own thanks to a well-timed run in the first half that left him one-on-one with the keeper and then a determined drive late in the second half that saw his close-range effort saved by the keeper once again.
The 30-year-old left an impression on GOAL’s Sean Walsh, who awarded him an 8/10 at full-time, writing that he worked ‘extremely hard’ for his two assists.
On top of the praise from the press, the experienced dynamo’s statistics also make for great reading, as in 94 minutes of action he amassed a combined expected goal and assists figure of 0.80, provided two assists, took two shots on target, played three key passes, created one big chance, took 47 touches and made one interception.
Minutes
94′
Expected Goals
0.57
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.23
Assists
2
Shots on Target
2
Touches
47
Key Passes
3
Big Chances Created
1
Interceptions
1
Overall, while Sterling almost certainly won’t feature in the lineup at the weekend, that won’t be because of his display last night, which might not be the case for one of his teammates.
The Arsenal starter who's played themselves out the team
Unfortunately, while the game wasn’t all that bad, and the result was ultimately meaningless, a few starters likely played themselves out of contention to start on the weekend.
One of those players was Jorginho, who had an uncharacteristically poor night in the middle of the park for the hosts.
The Italian ace was entirely ineffective in attack and utterly hopeless when it came to the more important defensive side of his game, switching off and losing his runner for Ivan Perišić’s goal and then losing the ball entirely for Couhaib Driouech’s impressive lob.
Unsurprisingly, Sean Walsh was equally unimpressed with the former Chelsea man, awarding him just a 3/10 on the night, a rating more than validated by his statistics.
In 94 minutes of football, the 33-year-old amassed an expected assists figure of just 0.04, completed just 86% of his passes, made no key passes, failed to take a single shot, failed 100% of his dribbles, lost 100% of his ground duels, lost the ball 11 times, committed one foul and made one mistake that led directly to a goal.
Minutes
94′
Expected Goals
0.00
Goals
0
Expected Assists
0.04
Assists
0
Shots
0
Passing Accuracy
48/56 (86%)
Key Passes
0
Dribbles (Successful)
1 (0)
Ground Duels (Won)
2 (0)
Lost Possession
11
Fouls
1
Errors Leading to a Goal
1
Ultimately, while Sterling put in arguably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt last night, Jorginho put in one of his worst in some time, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t start a game again for a while.
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