After a 1-2 for the Londoners at the Stade Velodrome, which could be seen as slightly undeserved, we rate the Marseille players’ performances on the night.
Steve Mandanda: 7/10:
In all honesty, he did not have that much to do. There was nothing that he could do about either goal and he made a fantastic save off Gibbs in the second half.
Jeremy Morel: 5/10
He did well to contain Walcott throughout the match, but a dreadful error, in making a hash of a simple ball into the box, gifted Arsenal the lead.
Nicolas N’Koulou: 6/10
Defended well and looked solid all night. Was tired by the end, however, and he did not close Ramsey down well enough for the second Arsenal goal.
Lucas Mendes: 7/10:
Similarly to N’Koulou, he didn’t do too much wrong. He looked calm in possession and dealt with most of what he needed to very well.
Rod Fanni: 7/10
Made some fantastic supporting runs down the right and did even look to threaten Arsenal at times. His final ball did go missing tonight, however.
Gianelli Imbula: 9/10
The 21 year old had a fantastic game. He showed his class throughout, constantly breaking attacks down and bringing the ball forward. He continues to look a fantastic talent for the future and looks to be developing a good partnership with Romao.
Alaixys Romao: 7/10
Like Imbula, the defensive midfielder was very impressive throughout and stopped Ozil in his tracks for most of the match. He tired towards the end, however, and it cost his team.
Andre Ayew: 6/10:
He failed to show a final ball at any stage during the night, but did continue to work hard and set up many attacks in the game. He almost scored with a header when he was unmarked in the box and should have maybe done better.
Mathieu Valbuena: 6.5/10
Once again looked like the main threat for Marseille, but was left to feed of scraps due to the brilliance of Flamini during the evening. He saw a few shots whistle over the bar, but once again, his final ball was lacking.
Dimitri Payet 7/10:
Highlighted to you by us before the game as a dangerman, Payet did pose a real threat for Marseille and saw a couple of shots saved by Szczesny. He too lacked the final ball or cutting edge pass his team needed, however.
Andre-Pierre Gignac: 5/10:
Was left to feed off scraps for most of the game, but did not really contribute. He put a shot out for a throw-in and was offside needlessly three of four times.
Jordan Ayew: 7/10:
Came on in the second half and was absent for most of it apart from slotting home a brilliant penalty to get a goal in added time.
Florian Thauvin and Saber Khalifa came on too late to make an impact.
