Aston Villa vs Arsenal Player Ratings

Aston Villa

Brad Guzan - 6.5 
Stuck out a foot to deny Ramsey's deflected shot but had a relatively quiet outing, partly due to Arsenal's dull attack.

Ron Vlaar (51' off) - 6.5
He was a solid figure at the back for the home side, breaking down Arsenal's play whenever they gained momentum, until an injury forced him off in the second half.

Ciaran Clark - 7
One of the most focused Villa players on the pitch, he was always a threat when going up for set pieces and stood strong in the middle of defence.

Enda Stevens - 6.5 
Stevens did not get much help from Bannan on the left but still managed to hold the fort. Jenkinson and Oxlade-Chamberlain never got going and did not make the most of their chances to deliver a crosses in on a regular basis.

Matthew Lowton - 7
Lowton was always there to deny Podolski and tracked him well, even back into his own box. He also ventured forward on a few occasions to help Weimann.

Karim El Ahmadi (63' off) - 6.5
Got booked for a rather ridiculous dive in the first half but on the whole El Ahmadi was always on the alert to cut out loose balls in the midfield and press Arteta to deny him space.

Ashley Westwood - 6.5
Westwood had a quiet game going forward and his biggest contribution to the team was his running and constant harrying of the Arsenal players.

Gabriel Agbonlahor - 8
The stand-in Villa skipper lead by example and worked extremely hard following Gibbs up and down the flank, always seeking to put the Arsenal player under pressure. He had only one chance on goal but fired straight at Szczesny.

Barry Bannan - 7.5 
Managed to find pockets of spaces in midfield and acted as a pivot for his side. His distribution on the counter was deadly and he was probably the best performer on the field in terms of creating chances.

Andreas Weimann (90' off) - 6.5 
Had a goal disallowed after he drifted a fraction offside from an intelligent free-kick which caught the Gunners off guard. Put in a good, hard shift over the 90 minutes.

Christian Benteke - 7.5
His physical presence and strength posed a threat in the Arsenal penalty box - it's a wonder that he managed to win so many headers against the Arsenal defence. However, he was not as effective when the ball was played to his feet and could not keep possession long enough to create decent chances for his side. 

Substitutions

Eric Lichaj (51' on) - 6.5 
A thigh injury forced Vlaar out of the game but Lichaj was disciplined and closed down the Arsenal players throughout. 

Brett Holman (63' on) - 7.5 
Showed great determination and energy the minute he set foot on the pitch, looking dangerous when bringing the ball forward. He went closest to breaking the deadlock when his long range effort was tipped over by Szczesny and hit the post.

Marc Albrighton (90' on)
N/A

Arsenal

Wojciech Szczesny - 8
Showed safe hands on countless occasions despite the slippery conditions. His fingertips save kept Arsenal in the game as both sides were more keen on keeping a clean sheet especially in the later stages of the match. 

Per Mertesacker - 6.5 
The tall defender was barely challenged in the air but he had a brief moment of folly after Szczesny's poor clearance. Thankfully for Arsenal, Villa failed to capitalize on it. 

Laurent Koscielny - 7
The Frenchman had a glorious opportunity to give Arsenal the lead just before the break but could not get his footing right and fired his shot way over the crossbar. The agile centre back worked well with Mertesacker and was never caught out of position despite venturing forward frequently.

Carl Jenkinson - 6.5
Lacked ideas going forward but stuck to his defensive duties diligently, not allowing the likes of Agbonlahor to outpace or outmuscle him. Needs to work on his deliveries especially in the final third, to take advantage of the towering Giroud.

Kieran Gibbs - 6.5 
Managed to sneak up behind the Villa defence on a few occasions as nobody bothered to track his runs from deep but his delivery, like Jenkinson, left much to be desired.

Mikel Arteta - 6 
Arteta was once again deployed in a deeper role, holding the midfield together. Looked uncharacteristically rushed when passing but that is testament to the excellent job the Villa midfield did in harrying him.

Lukas Podolski - 5.5 
Another quiet game for the German international, who seemed to be wasting away for large portions of the match in defensive positions instead of wrecking havoc in the opposition half. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (77' off) - 6 
The manager's attempt to freshen the squad with a couple of new inclusions failed to pay off. The Ox needs more playing time to regain his confidence to run and beat defenders, much like when he first burst into the scene at Arsenal.

Aaron Ramsey - 6
His tireless runs covered plenty of ground and the Welshman very proactive in making himself available to receive a pass. He had so many opportunities to get his name on the score sheet but poor finishing let him down.

Santi Cazorla - 6.5
Effective when Arsenal were playing their swift one-twos but spent the majority of the match trying to make the killer pass. Unfortunately for Cazorla, this was one game in which he couldn't quite pull it off. 

Olivier Giroud (86' off) - 6 
Did his best to be the player to link up the midfield by dropping deep but had a tough task of trying to find space in the compact Villa defence. He didn't do much wrong, considering the crosses to him from the wide positions were scarce. 

Substitutions

Gervinho (70' on) - 4
He should have remained on the bench if he sincerely wanted to help his team's cause. Gave away possession everytime he touched the ball and did nothing productive whatsoever after coming on. 

Andrei Arshavin (77' on)
N/A

Francis Coquelin (86' on)
N/A