Arsenal player ratings versus Birmingham City

Almunia - 6 Not sure if the blond one could have done better with the goal, a part of me says he should have had it, but it took a deflection off fab so I will give him the benefit of the doubt however, he made a great stop in the first half and was very quick off his line to deny the Brummie's on another occasion.

Sagna - 6.5 As ever supported the attack well down the right and also defended well, this lad seem to have been playing for us for years.

Senderos - 7 Still a few very dodgy moments however, aside from those Senderos / Twilight zone moments a solid defensive performance.

Gallas - 7.5 MOM He led the team well again but without the desired result, covered a lot of ground, I just hope and pray he does not get injured in the next 6 weeks otherwise we are in deep shite.

Clichy - 7 As solid as always and good defensively no one can question his work rate, he ran his socks off getting forward. Now he's putting in some semi-decent balls these days, his crossing was better today but still a little improvement needs in that area.

Walcott - 5 When is this lad going to pull his weight? I don't think he is as yet able to start games for us. Unfortunately, he sometimes just makes things difficult for himself, why oh why can't he just play it simple? So many times he got himself into good positions to pass after showing some good dribbling skills but chose to try and take on more players and lost the ball. He is rapidly becoming a passenger in a team with genuine title ambitions that sadly cannot afford to carry him.

Fabregas - 5.5 It's about time the real Fabregas turned up, his games of late have been nothing like the little general we have come to love. He seems to have gone off the boil, the goals dried up and his accurate passing has gone, he seemed more than a bit ordinary out there today.

Flamini - 7 A very solid game from Flamini, he was everywhere out on the pitch, put in some great tackles and his contribution continues to justify his selection.

Hleb - 6.5 He played well in the first half but seemed to loose his momentum when Birmingham scored. Still produced plenty of sloppy passes and he lost the ball too much, however, he was still involved in most of our best opportunities in the second half.

Adebayor - 5 Took the penalty well but apart from that he was pretty much invisible, he always seems to work hard but sometimes gets little reward for all that effort, same old same old.

Eduardo - 6 Fast Eddy tried I feel but because of the poor distribution from midfield had little impact on the game. In the second half he seemed to link up well with Clichy and Bendtner, I think he plays better /partners Bendtner better than Ade.

Bendtner - 6 Even though he made an impact when he came on he made one or two bad decisions in dangerous areas which could have proved very costly.

Diaby - 5.5 Sometimes I am at a loss with this guy, his contribution of late for me has been little or nothing, he forgets that he has a team sometimes and just hangs onto the ball too long. It makes me think he doesn't know what the word "pass" means.