Player Ratings: Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Arsenal

Posted Tuesday, May 04, 2010 by

Rovers' aerial bombardment stuns Gunners...

BLACKBURN ROVERS

Paul Robinson - 6- The quieter of the two goalkeepers was guilty of miscommunication with his defence at times but made some solid catches.

Michel Salgado - 6 - Not the right-back-cum-winger of Real Madrid yore but his competitiveness and experience kept Vela and Arshavin in check.

Christopher Samba - 8 - A tower of strength in both penalty areas. Fabianski will be having nightmares about his aerial prowess for years to come.

Ryan Nelsen - 7 - Granite-solid display from the grizzled Kiwi. Regained his composure after Arsenal threatened to over-run the home side early on.

Gael Givet - 7 - Fine display. Deceptively quick, enterprising going forward and handled Walcott's searing pace with skill.

Keith Andrews - 7 - Summed up Rovers' greater desire and nous with a solid midfield display.

Vincenzo Grella - 6 - Substituted after being booked but kept a tight rein on Arsenal's nimble ball-carriers.

Martin Olsson - 6 - Made some fine runs and his pace unsettled Arsenal's one-paced centre-back pair.

Morten-Gamst Pederson - 6 - Wasted a great chance when the score was 1-1 but ran tirelessly and his crossing was always dangerous.

David Dunn - 7 - Blackburn's leading scorer this season tucked away his goal with aplomb and added some imagination to an otherwise one-dimensional attack.

Jason Roberts - 7 - Strong, direct display from Rovers' targetman. Rolled the Arsenal rearguard with some excellent back-to-goal forward play.

Substitutes

David Hoilett - 6 - Showed speed of limb and thought in a zippy display.

Phil Jones - 6 - The highly-rated defender helped Rovers maintain their iron grip of the game late on.

ARSENAL

Lukasz Fabianski - 4 - The good, the bad, the ugly and the very ugly. Made some fine saves but was at fault for both goals and his handling of the inevitable aerial bombardment was embarrassing at times.

Bakari Sagna - 6 - Kept going while some of his colleagues faltered and did his best to provide support to Walcott.

Sol Campbell - 6 - Was as composed in his eighth consecutive Premier League start as the previous seven. Held the defence together on his own at times but will not want to watch replays of the winning goal.

Mickael Silvestre - 4 - Struggled to deal with Roberts' physical qualities. Surely will not be wearing red-and-white next season.

Armand Traore - 5 - Made some confident overlaps but struggled to keep his head above water when Rovers were pinging 70-yard diagonal balls in his direction.

Theo Walcott - 6 - Great early cut-back for Vela and made some surging runs down the right flank but was too easily thwarted by the excellent Givet.

Abou Diaby - 4 - A disappointing display. Much of the game passed him by and not really up for the physical fight.

Samir Nasri - 5 - The conductor of the Arsenal orchestra spent so much time craning his neck that he will have to book in a double session with the physio tomorrow.

Emmanuel Eboue - 5 - Slotted into the central midfield role where he began his career in place of the injured Alex Song and worked tirelessly but was substituted late on.

Robin van Persie - 7 - Maintained his brilliant scoring run against Rovers with an opportunistic header and his dead-ball expertise and all-round va va voom added a vital weapon to the Arsenal attack.

Carlos Vela - 5 - Showed some neat touches but fluffed a brilliant opportunity early on and struggled to make an imprint on the game from his left-wing berth.

Substitutes

Andrey Arshavin - 5 - The artful dodger barely had a touch in his comeback from injury.

Eduardo - 5 - Did not have a chance to make an impact or regain his shattered confidence.