FC Cologne 1-0 Arsenal: Player Ratings

The team that currently sit bottom of the Bundesliga were able to score a famous win over the mighty Arsenal. A 62nd-minute penalty from Sehrou Guirassy was enough to be the difference between the two teams.

Despite losing, Arsenal will finish top of Group H as Red Star Belgrade drew with BATE. FC Koln, however, are still in a battle for 2nd place with Red Star Belgrade, as the two teams meet in the final game week.

Here’s how the players fared:

FC Cologne

Timo Horn: 7/10

The 24-year-old wasn’t particularly bombarded with shots. But he did find himself under a lot of offensive pressure. Arsenal penned Cologne into their own defensive third for most of the game, forcing him to make 7 saves and claim 1 cross.

Dominic Maroh: N/A

The 30-year-old was completely in control of his defence until an injury put him on the shelf in the 38th minute.

Jorge Mere: 6.5/10

With Alex Iwobi dropping deep and Danny Welbeck clearly unfit, the 20-year-old CB didn’t have much to do in terms of 1v1 defending. In fact, he had a comfortable match where he just focused on his positioning in Cologne’s low-block.

Frederik Sorensen: 7/10

The 25-year-old maintained Cologne’s defensive solidity throughout the match, acting as a rock on the left of the German teams’ back three. Sorensen won 2 aerials, attempted 3 tackles, made 6 clearances and intercepted 6 passes.

Jannes Horn: 6/10

The wing-back found himself defending more than he did attack. The 20-year-old didn’t particularly do much, all he did was form a back five off the ball.

Milos Jojic: 6.5/10

The central midfielder didn’t do much in terms of getting forward but he tirelessly pressed Arsenal’s midfield pivot. Jojic successfully intercepted 4 passes, attempted 6 tackles, created 2 chances and completed 26 passes.

Salih Ozcan: 5.5/10

As Cologne’s holding midfielder, Ozcan was tasked with cutting off passing lanes to Arsenal’s front three. However, he struggled to cope with Arsenal’s constant pressure as he was dribbled past 11 times during the match.

Lukas Klunter: 6.5/10

The right wing-back was resolute in his positioning and relentless in his pressing of Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Klunter was only dribbled past once as his positioning made him less susceptible to being beaten for pace.

Jhon Cordoba: 6/10

The 24-year-old’s electric pace proved to be a danger to Arsenal’s back three at all times. He made several runs in the final third, attempting to stretch Arsenal’s defensive line. However, when he did get into threatening attacking positions, he didn’t do much with the ball.

Yuya Osako: 4/10

The 27-year-old had little to no effect on the game whatsoever. On the ball, he only completed 12 passes and had 1 shot on goal. Off the ball, he didn’t disrupt Arsenal’s build-up play at all.

Sehrou Guirassy: 7/10

The 21-year-old portrayed nerves of steel as he stepped up to open the scoring for FC Koln. On top of that, Guirassy worked hard off the ball, winning 5 aerials and making 2 tackles. This is a night the youngster will never forget in his whole career. He scored the winning goal against Arsenal, let that sink in.

Substitutions

Konstantin Rausch: 6.5/10

Being in a constant aerial battle with Olivier Giroud is testing at the best of times but he literally bested the Frenchman for most of the game.

Pawel Olkowski: 6/10

The 27-year-old came on for Cordoba in the 56th minute to help sure up things for the German team.

Matthias Lehmann: N/A

The 34-year-old only mustered up 5 successful passes in his time on the pitch.

Arsenal

David Ospina: 5/10

When called upon, the Colombian could not answer the call. It’s not easy to play just your 5th game of the season but Ospina showed us why he’s Arsenal’s second choice. Although he didn’t have much to do, he was still useless in the one pivotal moment of the match.

Calum Chambers: 5.5/10

As a defensive-minded RWB, Chambers basically tucked in alongside the back three to make a back four. The 22-year-old completed 23 passes, won 2 aerials and was dribbled past once.

Mathieu Debuchy: 4.5/10

He gave away several fouls, got a yellow card and conceded a poor penalty. The Frenchman had his poorest game of the season yet, only making 2 tackles whilst misplacing 4 passes. Based on this game, Debuchy won’t be breaking into the first team anytime soon.

Per Mertesacker: 5.5/10

Back at the club, he started his professional career at, Per Mertesacker showed everyone why he’s retiring in the summer. He looked a step behind the pace, out of ideas on the ball and inept in his man marking. As the central CB, Mertesacker was meant to marshal his defensive unit, instead, he led them to disarray.

Rob Holding: 6/10

The Englishman had a relatively quiet match as he wasn’t tested down his side and didn't have anyone to mark. The 21-year-old won 2 aerial duels and completed 99 passes. That’s a high total but none of those passes led to any meaningful attacks.

Mohammed Elneny: 6/10

Elneny was moved into the midfield position after playing the last few games at CB. Back in his rightful position, the Egyptian was much more involved in Arsenal’s build-up play. The 25-year-old completed 94% of his passes and created 1 chance.

Francis Coquelin: 5.5/10

The Frenchman showcased the more attacking side of his game against Cologne as he ventured forward on several occasions, even hitting the post once. He played more like a box-to-box midfielder than a defensive midfielder but his third man runs were not clever enough to help the Gunners destabilise the German team’s defensive organisation.

Jack Wilshere: 6.5/10

England’s most gifted midfielder gradually grew into the game and eventually ended up controlling everything the Gunners did in the second half. Wilshere has only played 25 minutes of PL football this season and this was the perfect chance for him to prove himself to Arsène Wenger and Gareth Southgate. Wilshere created 2 chances, made 46 passes and successfully completed 8 take-ons.

Danny Welbeck: 6/10

The Englishman looked rusty in the first few minutes of the game. But after a while, his engine started to motor. He was running directly at the Cologne defence, seeking to take them on at every opportunity. His fitness only allowed him to play 45 minutes, in that time, he completed 5 take-ons, completed 22 passes and had 1 shot on goal.

Olivier Giroud: 5/10

As the focal point of Arsenal’s attack, Giroud was solely responsible for holding up play and link up with others and he failed to do either. The Frenchman lumbered around aimlessly in the final third, as he was void of service and void of ideas to score any goals.

Substitutions

Alex Iwobi: 6/10

The 21-year-old came on at half-time and instantly revamped Arsenal’s attack. The Nigerian tried to make an attacking pass at every chance and with that, he created 2 chances and completed 3 dribbles.

Reiss Nelson: N/A

As talented as he is, Nelson’s burst of pace wasn’t enough to seriously affect the game in the short time he was given.

Eddie Nketiah: N/A

The youngster tried to get on the end of a few crosses, but Cologne’s packed defence didn’t give him the space he needed.