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MISFIRING GUNNERS

Arsenal player ratings: Gunners rubbish on poor night as they fall to shock BATE Borisov defeat

None of the visiting side came out of the game with any credit as Stanislav Dragun scores the only goal in 1-0 win

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ARSENAL fell to a terrible defeat in Belarus against minnows BATE Borisov.

The visiting Gunners were awful, lacking creativity and barely having any chances as they suffered a 1-0 defeat.

 Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech reacts after Stanislav Dragun scores the winner for minnows BATE Borisov
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Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech reacts after Stanislav Dragun scores the winner for minnows BATE BorisovCredit: AP:Associated Press

The shocking state of the pitch certainly didn't help, but Unai Emery's men were woeful.

Stanislav Dragun scored the only goal of the game, heading home a first-half free-kick, but it could have been so much different had Henrikh Mkhitaryan turned in an early cross when one-on-one.

Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal when Alexandre Lacazette was sent off for a nasty elbow.

We rate the Arsenal players who lost to BATE - and it doesn't make for pretty reading.

Piers Morgan leads angry Arsenal fan reaction to dire BATE defeat
 Unai Emery's Arsenal fell were terrible in the 1-0 defeat to BATE
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Unai Emery's Arsenal fell were terrible in the 1-0 defeat to BATECredit: Reuters

Petr Cech

Arsenal fans won't have it but there was little Cech could do with the first goal, it was a good header from Dragun.

Apart from that the veteran goalkeeper stood up to everything that came his way.

Shkodran Mustafi

The German international was poor but somehow managed to come out of the game looking better than his defensive partners.

Slow to read danger and nervy in possession.

Laurent Koscielny

Nearly cost the Gunners a goal when he completely switched off and allowed Nemanja Milic to sneak in and hit the post.

The Gunners skipper is nowhere close to the player he once was.

Nacho Monreal

Another player well passed his prime who shouldn't really be a regular starter if Arsenal want to win trophies.

Looked a yard off the pace, although he had little protection from Kolasinac.

 Matteo Gueondouzi put in lots of effort but his final pass was lacking
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Matteo Gueondouzi put in lots of effort but his final pass was lackingCredit: Reuters

Ainsley Maitland-Niles

The attributes for a good player are in there but Maitland-Niles is a long way from the finished product.

Brilliant athleticism but too often picks the wrong choice - and what is his proper position?

Matteo Guendouzi

The floppy-haired midfielder wasn't great but he showed a lot more effort and courage than some of his more senior team-mates.

Always made himself an option and wanted to carry the ball forward, although his final pass was poor and he was caught out of position a couple of times.

Granit Xhaka

Awful, awful performance from the midfielder, this is the kind of game that a top class central midfielder should dominate.

Xhaka was meek on the ball and found himself out-thought by BATE midfielders.

 Granit Xhaka had a shocking performance in the middle of midfield
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Granit Xhaka had a shocking performance in the middle of midfieldCredit: AP:Associated Press

Saed Kolasinac

Arguably Arsenal's most dangerous player which says a lot about how poor the rest of the side performed.

Remains a poor defender and not quite a winger, he spurned a couple of good openings in the final third.

Alex Iwobi

The forward had some good moments but his obvious limitations encapsulate this team.

When he decided to drive at BATE they were terrified but those moments were few and far between with Iwobi (whether under instruction or not) too often happy just to play an easy pass than take a risk.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

If only Mkhitaryan had scored that early chance this game would have probably been a lot different.

But he didn't and unless you were watching closely you probably forgot he was even on the pitch.

Alexandre Lacazette gets sent off for elbowing Filipovic as Arsenal lose to BATE Borisov in Europa League

Alexandre Lacazette

The striker only had two good bits of service in 90 minutes from an Arsenal side severely lacking creativity.

He then made matters much worse late on when he was sent off for a nasty elbow on Aleksandar Filipovic.

 Alexandre Lacazette was sent off late for a nasty elbow
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Alexandre Lacazette was sent off late for a nasty elbowCredit: Reuters

SUBS: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Came on with just over 20 minutes to play but didn't have a chance.

The lack of creativity and spark in this Arsenal team - missing Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey - really is shocking.

Lucas Torreira

It speaks to Arsenal's lack of options that a goal down and needing a win, Emery swaps one defensive midfielder for another.

Where are the wingers?

Denis Suarez

Looked neat and tidy on the ball and tried to be positive but was often no options for him.

BATE packed the middle of the park and dared Arsenal to break them down. They couldn't.

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