Arsenal player ratings vs Lens: Rice the standout as Gunners slump in France
Gabriel Jesus’ early goal wasn’t enough for Arsenal as they fell to their first defeat of the season at Lens on Tuesday night.
The Gunners went in front when Jesus struck on 14 minutes, but a fabulous finish from Adrien Thomasson drew the home side level before the half hour mark.
Bukayo Saka then limped off with what looked like a hamstring injury and Arsenal’s miserable night was complete when Elye Wahi swept home a fine strike to give the home side the win 20 minutes from time.
Arsenal player ratings
David Raya: Poor clearance that led to the equaliser. Looked comfortable other than that. 6
Takehiro Tomiyasu: Didn’t offer the threat going forward that White usually does. Saw one great chance saved from a corner in the second half. 5
William Saliba: Never really looked in trouble, but will have been disappointed at the space Lens were given for both goals. 6
Gabriel Magalhaes: Very similar to Saliba. Rarely looked troubled, but will be very frustrated with the goals. 6
Oleksandr Zinchenko: Good when he was on the ball, but Lens got a lot of joy running into the space that he was vacating. 5
Declan Rice: Arsenal’s best player on the night. Broke play up and drove the team forward when he could. 7
Martin Odegaard: Had a good first half, but faded after the interval. 5
Kai Havertz: Couple of nice moments, but still lacks that intensity and aggressiveness that you need in midfield. 5
Bukayo Saka: Set up the goal for Jesus, but went off injured before half-time. Really worrying. 5
Gabriel Jesus: Scored an excellent goal, but didn’t get much else out of the Lens defence. 6
Leandro Trossard: Quiet night. Had one great chance early in the second half which he failed to take. 4
Substitutes
Fabio Viera: On for Saka in the first half, but never seemed to settle into the game. 4
Reiss Nelson: Didn’t see enough of the ball after coming on. 5
Emile Smith Rowe: Not on for long, but did look quite bright. Had one powerful shot saved. 6
Ben White: Arsenal missed his runs on the overlap in the first half. 5
Eddie Nketiah: No impact as Lens sat deep to protect their lead. N/A