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Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang puts on a show against Europa League minnows

Arsenal 4-2 Vorskla Poltava: Aubameyang scores twice as Arsenal begin Europa League campaign with a win

Thursday 20 September 2018 22:06 BST

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice before being rested ahead of the weekend (REUTERS)

Arsenal avoided an uncomfortable evening thanks to their individual stars who got their Europa League campaign up and running with a win.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was denied a hat-trick after his goals either side of half-time as Unai Emery cast one eye to Sunday's game against Everton. Danny Welbeck scored between Aubameyang's strikes and Mesut Ozil rounded off the Arsenal scoring with his second goal in two games.

There was no clean sheet for Bernd Leno or Stephan Lichtsteiner on their Arsenal debut as Vorskla Poltava left London with a souvenir thanks to Volodymyr Chesnakov and Vyacheslav Sharpar's late strikes.

Check out how the Arsenal players did in the gallery below:

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Show all 12

1/12Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Arsenal 4-2 Vorskla Poltava

PA

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Bernd Leno - 6 out of 10

Wasn’t allowed to do much as his defenders were very solid but he looked confident on the ball when it came to him.

REUTERS

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Stephan Lichtsteiner - 6

Ran down the right and worked well with Danny Welbeck to get balls into the box from the wing, assisted Ozil for the fourth goal but got caught in possession to give Vorskla a consolation goal.

AP

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Sokratis Papastathopoulos - 6

Made a few well-timed tackles and commanded his area of the pitch letting nothing get past him, he also set up the fourth goal.

REUTERS

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Rob Holding - 6

Held his own at centre-back and controlled the ball well moving forward, he played a few good passes out into the wings that allowed Arsenal to quickly move up the pitch.

AP

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Nacho Monreal - 6

Ran well down the left wing and offered Arsenal a threatening attacking option when they looked a little sluggish in possession.

REUTERS

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Lucas Torreira - 6

Wanted to control the game for Arsenal, he perhaps got the ball too deep to make a positive impact and an injury to his left ankle didn’t help. Could have had a goal from a free kick but narrowly missed the target.

Getty Images

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Mohamed Elneny - 5

Played well in midfield, did his job adequately if not spectacularly.

REUTERS

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Henrikh Mkhitaryan - 7

Looked a little of kilter but managed little sparks of brilliance such as the interception in the first half that allowed Arsenal to break away and score the opener, and his cross in the second that set up Welbeck.

REUTERS

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Alex Iwobi - 7

Combined well with Aubameyang especially when he ran at the defenders, he outpaced them and created chances in and around goal.

REUTERS

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Danny Welbeck - 7

Looked lost in the first half but came into his own in the second. He scored a good header and could have had at least one more goal

AP

Arsenal vs Vorskla Poltava player ratings

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 8

Scored the first half goal with a great finish as he was going to ground, made runs at the defenders and finished it with a glorious right footed strike. All in under 60 minutes.

AFP/Getty Images

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