Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Arsenal: Player Ratings as Gunners fall short

Arsenal lost 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Coming towards the end of the season, Spurs find themselves chasing the title, whilst Arsenal are fighting for a top four finish.

In a huge game like this, neither team could afford to drop points and the players had no excuse to under-perform.

Arsene Wenger's men found themselves coming out of the match with a loss, their first loss in four games.

But, in what was certainly a huge storm for Arsenal, were there any rainbows?

Goalkeeper

Petr Cech - 7 (MOTM)

Being put under a lot of pressure from Tottenham's fiery attack, he managed to keep his cool in most instances and pulled off some amazing saves from Victor Wanyama, Jan Vertonghen and Harry Kane.

He made the result look sweet in comparison to the match highlights, it may well have been four or five had he not been playing the way he was.

Defence

Gabriel Paulista - 4

He looked okay at the start of the game but that was soon forgotten in the second half. He fouled Kane to give away the second goal and put in a horrific challenge later on to get himself a yellow card.

Laurent Koscielny - 5

As always, he looked solid before having no input on the two goals conceded. After these goals he prevented the high intensity attack in which Spurs possess to limit the deficit.

Nacho Monreal - 5

Same as the previous match, he had a fairly average game at centre back. He didn't add much attacking threat and struggled to keep up with the big occasion.

Midfield

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 6

He played a big part in the first half by obtaining lots of possession and playing the ball in to difficult areas. His defending was average, with Son Heung-Min getting through and almost scoring. He looked lost in the second half.

Aaron Ramsey - 6

He didn't play too bad. In the first half he was the main man for Arsenal but steadied off in the second half. He came the closest to scoring, forcing Hugo Lloris in to a magnificent save.

Granit Xhaka - 6

He suffered a few knocks in the first half but he managed to see off the Spurs attack rather well. He was subbed off for Danny Welbeck in the second half.

Kieran Gibbs - 5

His linkup with Alexis in the first half was good but he didn't step up as much as he needed to. He had two chances to test Lloris but failed to do so.

Attack

Mesut Özil - 6

He was Arsenal's leading passer and he was trying his best to work the solid back line but he wasn't getting the help he needed.

Alexis Sanchez - 5

Another disappointing game for the Chilean. He had a few shots and played some good passing but it all came to nothing. He got lucky not to give away a penalty.

Olivier Giroud - 4

He looked lost. Perhaps this was due to the lack of service from width but it wasn't good enough. He connected well to a volley but it just wasn't to be for the Frenchman.

Substitutes

Danny Welbeck - 6

He looked positive when coming on, he tested the defence well and had a few chances to break them down, but it came to nothing.

Theo Walcott - N/A

He came on too late to make much of a difference. He had a good shot on target but it went straight in to the arms of Lloris.

Hector Bellerin - N/A

He didn't play a big part in the game due to the little time he had to do so.