Arsenal drew 0-0 at home to Middlesbrough this weekend.
Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny had a superb game as he helped his side keep a clean sheet in the otherwise frustrating 0-0 draw with newly-promoted Middlesbrough on Saturday.
The Gunners headed into the encounter looking to win their seventh league game in succession on Arsene Wenger’s 67th birthday, yet Boro were not there just to make up the numbers.
The Teessiders have not had the best of times of late, but Aitor Karanka’s men are extremely organised and disciplined and they restricted Arsenal to a number of long-range efforts and half chances.
In fact, it was the visitors who could count themselves unlucky, as their counterattacking play caused the hosts numerous problems and made their back four work more than they would have liked.
| Tackles | Def Duels Won | Effective Clearances | Interceptions | Aerial Duels Won | Ball Recoveries | Accurate Passes | Mins Played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laurent Koscielny | 2 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 54 | 90 |
As shown by the table provided by Opta, Koscielny was extremely busy and had it not been for some superb interventions and goalkeeper Pet Cech, the visitors could have been celebrating all three points.
Koscielny posted an impressive two tackles, two effective clearances, four interceptions, seven aerial duels won, nine defensive duels won and ten recoveries over the course of the 90 minutes.
In possession he was reliable as ever as he notched 54 accurate passes, allowing Arsenal to build possession from the back and try to move Boro’s players out of position.
Despite the dropped points, Arsenal moved into top spot in the Premier League table having profited from Tottenham Hotspur dropping points and later Manchester City being held to a home draw.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
