The 8/10 Arsenal star has just shown that he can save the Kuwait Stock Exchange millions

Well, it wasn't the most exciting football match last night, but Arsenal I finally got the job done.

Mikel Arteta The team knew that a victory over Dinamo Zagreb would be enough All but guarantee them Pass to UEFA Champions League Round of 16, won 3-0.

There were several great performances from the hosts, with Jorginho, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard finally finding the back of the net.

However, two stood out above the rest: Declan Rice And another key player who showed he can save the Kroenix a lot of money this month.

Declan Rice vs Zagreb match

The past few weeks have seen Rice return to near his best form of last season, and last night was one of his best performances of the season.

It took less than two minutes for the Englishman to open the scoring for the hosts, curling the ball into the half-volley like a world-class striker.

Now, he should have added a second goal in the second half, but that does not detract from how effective he was as a left player in both his offensive and defensive responsibilities.

We're not the only ones who have been deeply impressed by the former West Ham United captain either, says Football.london's Tom Canton. He gave the match a rating of 8/10 full-time, and wrote that it was “another dominant display in midfield” from the midfield machine.

Unsurprisingly, the 26-year-old's stats from the game back up the praise, As in 93 minutesHe produced an expected goals and assists total of 0.82, made 62 touches, maintained a passing accuracy of 91%, played one key pass, made four shots, won 100% of his ground duels, made one clearance, blocked two shots and made Two boot operations.

Overall, it was an impressive performance from the Gunners' £105m player, but he wasn't the only key player making the headlines, as Kai Havertz He made an offer that could ultimately save the club millions.

Kai Havertz vs Zagreb match

Yes, the player in question is Havertz, who, after a terrible few weeks in which his place in the team was seriously in question, produced another strong performance at the Emirates Stadium last night.

The Germany international has made his few, now usual, errors in the box, such as holding the ball too long at times, but overall he has shown that he can be the man to lead the North London side's attack this season.

For example, the “brilliant” striker, as he called him Talent scout Jacek KulejHe was the one who stopped the ball and helped it well, so Rice opened the scoring in the first two minutes, but he did not finish it.

In the second half, when the team needed to extend their lead, the 25-year-old Dinamo rose to meet a brilliant pass from Gabriel Martinelli and did just that, helping to calm any nerves that may have been slowly creeping in due to Saturday's game. game.

Unsurprisingly, Canton is quite a fan of the former Chelsea man, Give it another 8/10 On the night he wrote that he “completely controlled” the ball in the team's opener.

Now, if this is the start of a goalscoring run from the Aachen-born striker, the powers that be at the club may opt not to sign a new striker this month and instead invest elsewhere in the team, but whether that would be a good thing remains to be seen. The wise decision is a discussion for another time.

In the end, it wasn't a reckless display from Arsenal, but a relaxed and professional display that saw them emerge as deserved winners, and hopefully some momentum going into the rest of the season.