Arsenal player ratings vs Atletico Madrid

Bukayo Saka on the spot to send Mikel Arteta's side to the Champions League final on a night to remember in north London

Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal reached their first Champions League final in 20 years by defeating Atletico Madrid 1-0 in a tight and tense encounter on Tuesday to progress 2-1 on aggregate. The semi-final tie had been left perfectly poised after Viktor Gyokeres and Julian Alvarez had exchanged penalties at the Metropolitano last week, and there was once again little to choose between two attritional teams in the return clash at the Emirates.

It always felt as if a mistake might decide the game – and so it proved. With just a minute of normal time remaining at the end of the first half, Jan Oblak spilt a shot from Leandro Trossard at the feet of Saka, leaving Arsenal's homegrown hero with the simplest of finishes from inside the six-yard area to send the home fans into raptures.

Atletico applied some pressure in the second half, but their best chance actually came from a William Saliba error. Unfortunately for coach Diego Simeone, his son Giuliano was unable to find the back of the net after pouncing on a loose header from the Frenchman – despite taking the ball around David Raya.

As a result, Arsenal held on quite comfortably to put themselves one victory away from a first-ever European Cup. Below, GOAL rates all of the Gunners on show on a historic night at the Emirates...

Goalkeeper & Defence

David Raya (7/10):

Didn't actually have that much to do but stepped up when called upon in the second half, while his distribution was decent throughout.

Ben White (7/10):

Played the ball in behind for Gyokeres that led to the deadlock being broken and didn't really put a foot wrong defensively.

READ MORE: Arsenal qualify for UCL final for the first time in 20 years

William Saliba (6/10):

A couple of tidy bits of defending to prevent Alvarez from getting away in the first half, but he was so lucky that his wayward header didn't lead to Giuliano equalising.

Gabriel Magalhaes (7/10):

He did incredibly well to put off Giuliano without dragging him to the ground and also managed to snuff out the danger after a Raya save soon after by getting his body in between the ball and his man.

Riccardo Calafiori (6/10):

The Italian retained his spot at left-back ahead of Hincapie and, as usual, always looked to get forward whenever he could. So lucky, though, that the whistle had already blown for a soft free-kick on Gabriel when he stamped on Griezmann in the area.

Midfield

Myles Lewis-Skelly (7/10):

Got the nod ahead of Zubimendi after an impressive performance against Fulham at the weekend, and although he was very lucky to escape an early booking for hauling down Llorente, he turned in an incredibly accomplished display for a 19-year-old making just his second appearance in midfield for the Gunners.

Declan Rice (7/10):

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Made a huge block to deny Giuliano a certain goal, while there were also a couple of sensational surges into Atletico territory – despite the fact that he was playing in a deeper role.

Eberechi Eze (4/10):

Picked in his preferred position but was really poor. If he'd not been caught in possession a few times, you'd have forgotten he was playing. Rightly replaced before the hour mark.

Attack

Bukayo Saka (7/10):

Quiet for the most part but, crucially, put Arsenal ahead just before the break with a tap-in after reacting quickest to Oblak's error. He unsurprisingly tired quickly in what was just his second start since returning from injury and was taken off in the 58th minute.

Viktor Gyokeres (7/10):

No surprise that the opening goal came after good work down the right-hand side from the Swede, as he'd been running the channels well right from the off. He also missed a gilt-edged opportunity to double his team's lead, but this was still a positive night for the much-maligned striker.

Leandro Trossard (7/10):

Played his part in the goal with a decent effort that Oblak couldn't hold and put in a serious shift down the left-hand side from a defensive perspective.

Source: Goal.com