Tzolis shines on Premier League debut - Arsenal v Coventry player ratings

Bukayo Saka and Christos Tzolis Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Christos Tzolis put in the ball which led to Bukayo Saka scoring Arsenal's second goal

By
Football reporter at Emirates Stadium
  • Published

Arsenal started the defence of their Premier League title with a comfortable 3-0 win over Coventry.

Here are my player ratings and you can also see how you scored them at the bottom.

Arsenal starting XI

David Raya: The Arsenal number one was barely tested. 6

Ben White: His partnership with Bukayo Saka was back to its best and he grabbed an assist for Arsenal's third goal. 7

Cristhian Mosquera: A solid display from the centre-back, who had little to deal with. 7

Gabriel Magalhaes: Was given a tough ride by Ellis Simms at times and picked up a booking, but, on the whole, it was a comfortable evening for the Brazilian as Arsenal kept a clean sheet. 7

Riccardo Calafiori: The left-back is a key part of how Arsenal attack because of the unconventional positions he picks up. His pinpoint pass picked out Kai Havertz for the opening goal. 8

Myles Lewis-Skelly: A confident performance in the middle of pitch which makes all the talk of him potentially being sold during this transfer window look very silly. 7

Declan Rice: A trademark powerful run with the ball started the attack for Arsenal's second goal. 7

Martin Odegaard: The heartbeat of the Arsenal team. The captain had lots of bright moments as the Gunners pinned Coventry back. Scored a fortunate third but his performance deserved a goal. 8

Bukayo Saka: Looked back to his sharpest in the Community Shield last Sunday and brought that form into this game. Gave Jay Dasilva a torrid time and scored the second goal. 8

Christos Tzolis: A couple of very bright runs early on and a shot that went over the bar. It was his hard work that won the ball back for Arsenal's opening goal and his cross was palmed into Saka for the second. A constant threat all match. 9

Kai Havertz: The German international is one of Mikel Arteta's favourite players and put in his usual intelligent performance. A very good finish to give Arsenal an early lead. 8

Subs:

Martin Zubimendi (on 68, Rice): Spain's World Cup winner came on when the game was won and kept things simple in front of the Arsenal back four. 7

Noni Madueke (on 68, Saka): Not many chances to attack as Arsenal cruised to three points. 6

Eberechi Eze (on 76, Tzolis): 5

Mikel Merino (on 76, Odegaard): 5

Piero Hincapie (on 81, Calafiori): 5

Subs not used: Arrizabalaga, Gyokeres, Nwaneri, Dowman

Coventry starting XI:

Carl Rushworth: A confident take from an Arsenal corner in the first half, but will be disappointed in how he dealt with the second Arsenal goal on his Premier League debut. Rushworth was also beaten by a scuffed Odegaard shot for the third. 5

Milan Van Ewijk: Lost the ball for the Arsenal opener and his team were up against it after going behind in the 15th minute. 4

Bobby Thomas: A tough night for the Coventry centre-back, but he did react well to clear when Rushworth parried a shot in the second half. 5

Aurele Amenda: A big block to deny Bukayo Saka from the edge of the six-yard box in the first half. Tried to battle physically with Havertz but part of a back four that conceded three. 5

Jay Dasilva: Had a difficult night against Saka, who was on top of his game. One good dribble in the second half. 5

Matt Grimes: The Coventry captain tried to get on the ball when he could in midfield but was not given any time. 6

Frank Onyeka: A lot of hard work from Onyeka but unfortunately for him a lot of it was done without the ball. 5

Caleb Yirenkyi: Tried to give energy to the Coventry midfield but was overpowered by an impressive Arsenal side. Booked for a foul on Lewis-Skelly. 6

Loum Tchaouna: The winger provided some threat for Coventry on the wing and his speculative acrobatic effort in the first half had Raya panicking for a second. 6

Brandon Thomas-Asante: Coventry did not have much of the ball so the winger was not able to show much going forward. 5

Ellis Simms: The striker battled hard against Gabriel and beat him once with a nice piece of skill. 6

Subs:

Victor Torp (on 62, Yirenkyi): The game was over when the midfielder came on. 6

Taiwo Awoniyi (on 70, Simms): Given a thankless task of leading the line when his side were three goals behind. 5

Jack Rudoni (on 70, Thomas-Asante): Not any chance to make an impact. 5

Hamer (on 82, Tchaouna): 5

Subs not used: Wilson, Sakamoto, Kitching, Latibeaudiere, Eccles.

How did you rate the players?

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Rate players out of 10 for this game. The rater will close 30 minutes after the final whistle. You must be signed in to a BBC account to play.

1Give it up
10Pure perfection

Number: 1 David Raya
Number: 33 R. Calafiori
Number: 6 Gabriel Magalhães
Number: 3 Cristhian Mosquera
Number: 4 B. White
Number: 41 D. Rice
Number: 49 M. Lewis-Skelly
Number: 17 C. Tzolis
Number: 8 M. Ødegaard
Number: 7 B. Saka
Number: 29 K. Havertz

Substitutes

Number: 10 E. Eze
Number: 5 P. Hincapié
Number: 20 N. Madueke
Number: 23 Mikel Merino
Number: 36 Martín Zubimendi

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.