Norwich City vs. Arsenal: Winners and Losers from Premier League
Arsenal and Norwich City played to a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road on Sunday to close out the weekend slate in the Premier League.
The Gunners jumped ahead in the 30th minute as Mesut Ozil took advantage of a goalkeeping blunder by John Ruddy. The Canaries leveled 13 minutes later as Lewis Grabban knocked in a shot from close range.
The result kept Arsenal in fourth place while Norwich remained in 16th place on 13 points. Arsenal failed to take advantage of the draw between Leicester City and Manchester United to move into second. Meanwhile, the Canaries lost ground in the relegation race since Bournemouth and Sunderland won on Saturday.
Arsenal also left the pitch discouraged because of injuries to a pair of star players—an all-too-familiar theme to the club right now.
Here's a look at our winners and losers from the 1-1 draw at Carrow Road.
Winner: Mesut Ozil
1 of 5
Mesut Ozil extended his stellar form into Sunday as he finished off his second goal of the season in the 30th minute.
The German international player, who has 11 assists to his name in the Premier League this year, sent the ball into the right side of the net after Alexis Sanchez intercepted a poor clearance from Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy.
In his last 12 Premier League matches, Ozil has been involved in 13 goals, per Opta, and the Gunners may have to be more reliant on the midfielder if the injury to Alexis ends up being a serious one.
Loser: John Ruddy
2 of 5
For the second time this season against a top-four opponent, John Ruddy made a goalkeeping error that led to a goal.
This time around, the English netminder rushed a clearance that forced Gary O'Neil into a heavy touch with Alexis in the vicinity. Alexis eventually picked up the ball and dished it over to Ozil, who found the back of the net for the only Arsenal goal.
Ruddy's error turned out to be a costly one as the match progressed since the Gunners failed to test him for most of the final 60 minutes. Instead of handing his side a surprising three points at home, Ruddy had to settle for a draw due to his mistake.
Winner: Lewis Grabban
3 of 5
Lewis Grabban found the back of the net for the first time this season in just his second Premier League start for the Canaries.
In the 43rd minute, the 27-year-old Englishman latched onto a pass from Robbie Brady, outmuscled substitute Gabriel and slotted the equalizer past Petr Cech.
When the final whistle blew, Grabban continued a terrific individual streak. In the 23 games he scored prior to Sunday, Grabban had not lost, per Opta.
If that remains the case throughout the season, the Canaries might want to give Grabban more chances to score in order to avoid the bottom three.
Losers: Alexis Sanchez and Laurent Koscielny
4 of 5
Arsenal suffered a pair of key blows on their trip to East Anglia as Laurent Koscielny and Alexis Sanchez left the field with injuries in each half.
Koscielny departed within the first 10 minutes as he suffered a hip injury early in the first half. His replacement Gabriel ended up being easily tossed to the ground in the buildup to Grabban's goal.
The bigger blow to the Gunners came in the 59th minute, when Alexis suffered a hamstring injury. The Chilean was a spark in attack throughout the match, but he was unable to continue after picking up the knock.
If Alexis and Koscielny are out for an extended period of time, the Gunners will have to rely on players like Gabriel, Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to replace the production of the two valuable stars.
Winner: Nacho Monreal
5 of 5
Arsenal found a ton of space on the left wing throughout the match, and Nacho Monreal was one of the players who successfully exploited it.
For most of the first half, Monreal combined well with Alexis, Ozil and Aaron Ramsey in search of the opener. Ozil's goal did come from the left side of the box, but it did not come off a sustained buildup on that side of the field.
On the defensive end of the field, Monreal kept Jonny Howson in check for 70 minutes before the winger was taken off for Nathan Redmond. Even when Redmond entered the match, Monreal kept the Englishman's impact on the contest to a minimum.
Although most of the focus after the match will be on Ozil and the injured Arsenal pair, Monreal deserves some credit for his two-way performance on Sunday.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
