Did the BBC Get Arsenal’s Player Ratings Right After Sunderland Win? – Opinion

Arsenal may have left the Stadium of Light with a 2-0 victory, but Saturday evening’s contest was far less comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

The Gunners had opportunities during the first half without taking them, before Sunderland came flying out after the interval and threatened to turn the match on its head.

Two moments within little more than two minutes ultimately changed everything. David Raya saved Sunderland’s penalty and, just 121 seconds later, Bruno Guimarães produced a superb strike for his first Arsenal goal.

Bukayo Saka’s stoppage-time penalty eventually made the points safe, but the BBC’s post-match player ratings reflect just how important Raya and Bruno were to Arsenal getting the job done.

Raya Clear Player of the Match

BBC Sport journalist Alex Brotherton, reporting from the Stadium of Light, awarded Raya an 8/10, the highest mark of any Arsenal player.

That assessment was even stronger among BBC readers, who gave the Spaniard an outstanding average score of 8.91, comfortably making him their Arsenal Player of the Match.

It is difficult to argue with them.

Raya had relatively little to do during much of the opening half, but Arsenal needed him desperately after the restart. His penalty save arrived with Sunderland firmly on top and prevented the hosts from taking a deserved lead.

He was then called upon again during the frantic closing stages, producing further important stops as Sunderland continued to throw bodies forward.

Sometimes a goalkeeper can have a quiet game and still be decisive. Raya certainly was here.

Bruno Makes a Huge Impact

Bruno Guimarães was the BBC journalist’s second-highest-rated Arsenal player with 7/10, while supporters were considerably more enthusiastic, awarding him 8.05.

Considering he only entered the contest at half-time, that is some impact.

Mikel Arteta introduced Bruno for Myles Lewis-Skelly with Arsenal struggling for control, and his thunderous opening goal could hardly have arrived at a better time.

Only moments after Raya’s penalty save, Declan Rice helped create the opportunity and Bruno produced a finish worthy of his first goal in Arsenal colours.

From potentially going 1-0 behind to leading 1-0 within 121 seconds summed up just how quickly Premier League matches can turn.

BBC Readers Much Kinder to Several Gunners

There were some interesting differences between Brotherton’s scores and those submitted by BBC readers.

Declan Rice received only a 6 from the BBC journalist but was Arsenal’s third-highest-rated player among supporters on 7.36. Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Magalhães were also awarded 6s by Brotherton but received 7.33 and 7.30 respectively from readers.

Perhaps the biggest disagreement concerned Ezri Konsa.

The defender was given just 4/10 by the BBC journalist after struggling against Brian Brobbey and conceding the Sunderland penalty. Readers were significantly more forgiving, rating him 6.95.

Myles Lewis-Skelly was another to receive a 4 from Brotherton, compared with a reader score of 6.25, while Ben White’s journalist rating of 5 became 6.38 among supporters.

Bukayo Saka received a 6 from the journalist after passing up opportunities during the game, but his late penalty helped lift his reader score to 7.04.

Did the BBC Get Arsenal’s Ratings Right?

There probably will not be much disagreement over the top two.

Without Raya’s penalty save, Arsenal could easily have found themselves chasing the match. Without Bruno’s spectacular response moments later, Sunderland might have continued building momentum.

That decisive two-minute sequence changed the entire evening.

The more interesting debate is further down the list. Were Rice, Odegaard and Gabriel really only six-out-of-ten performers? Were the BBC readers too generous towards Konsa and Lewis-Skelly?

And after scoring another important penalty, should Saka have been rated higher than six?

What do you make of the BBC ratings, Gooners? Who was your Arsenal Player of the Match, and which player do you think has been rated too highly or too harshly? Let us know in the comments below.

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