Mikel Arteta scored an own goal and Santi Cazorla missed a penalty as luckless Arsenal slumped to a 2-1 defeat away to West Bromwich Albion this afternoon.

The title-chasing Gunners took the lead through Olivier Giroud, but James Morrison cancelled it out on 35 minutes.

Arteta, who replaced the injured Francis Coquelin, then bundled the ball into his own net before the break to give the Baggies a 2-1 half-time lead.

Mesut Ozil struck the post early in the second period, before Cazorla then sent a spot-kick over the bar in the final quarter as the Gunners missed the chance to move top of the Premier League.

Here, Sports Mole analyses the other characters on an afternoon of drama in the West Midlands.

Goal

Boaz Myhill: Blameless for the goal and pulled off a few superb stops in the second period to thwart the Gunners. (6/10)

Defence

Craig Dawson: Struggled with the energy of Gibbs at times but the Baggies' right-back did very little wrong overall truth be told. (6/10)

Jonas Olsson: Recalled into the first XI due to the suspension of Gareth McAuley, Olsson did very little wrong and shackled Giroud brilliantly for the most part. (7/10)

Jonny Evans: Inexplicably lost the run of Giroud in the lead up to the opening goal. (4/10)

Chris Brunt: His brilliant delivery led to their equaliser and the Northern Irishman looked sound defensively against Sanchez in the first half, but struggled after the break and conceded the penalty. (5/10)

Midfield

Stephane Sessegnon: Got through plenty of defensive work but did not add much in the final third. Subbed with 30 minutes to go. (5/10)

Claudio Yacob: Conceded one or two silly free kicks in dangerous areas, but looked relatively solid in front of his back four overall. (6/10)

James Morrison: Grabbed a wonderful equaliser and the Scot was generally very tidy in possession, as he so often is. (7/10)

Darren Fletcher: Solid as a rock in the heart of West Brom's midfield. (7/10)

James McClean: His pace and power proved troublesome for the fit-again Bellerin, and it was only a matter of time before one his teasing crosses paid off. Faded in the second half. (7/10)

Attack

Salomon Rondon: Slightly isolated for the first half-an-hour or so, but the South American gradually grew into the clash, although he did not have a major impact it must be said. (4/10)

Substitutes

Saido Berahino: Almost added a third early in his cameo when his header bounced off the underside of the crossbar, though it did not cross the line. (6/10)

Goal

Petr Cech: Could do very little about the goals and truthfully did not have much else to do. (6/10)

Defence

Hector Bellerin: First game back after a brief absence through injury, and it showed. McClean was a step ahead of him all afternoon, while his marking for the hosts' equaliser was tame. (4/10)

Per Mertesacker: Looked shaky this afternoon, as he has done in recent weeks, but a slight improvement on his recent outings. Still, Gabriel may be a better option. (5/10)

Laurent Koscielny: Wenger said he was "deeply affected" by the terrorist attacks on Paris, but the Frenchman did well to put his grief to one side this afternoon, barely putting a foot wrong. (6/10)

Nacho Monreal: Did little wrong defensively but the Spanish left-back could have perhaps done more going forward, in the sense that he barely ventured outside his half. (5/10)

Midfield

Kieran Gibbs Always looked a promising outlet on the left-hand side of attack, but his teammates rarely sought him. Did miss one good chance in the first half though. (5/10)

Francis Coquelin: Only lasted 12 minutes after going off injured following a 50-50 challenge with Yacob. (6/10)

Santi Cazorla: Missed the penalty and was simply nowhere his best this afternoon as he struggled with the physical battle in midfield, while his passing was nothing to write home about either. (4/10)

Mesut Ozil: Delivered a wonderful free kick which led to the opener but the German was a little pedestrian aside from that, with his passing not as incisive as usual this season. Also unlucky not to score after striking the post early in the second half. (5/10)

Alexis Sanchez: Simply did not deserve to be on the losing side by a long shot. He was quiet by his standards in the first period, but he was his usual explosive self after the break. (7/10)

Attack

Olivier Giroud: Relatively anonymous before and after his opener, but always seemed a threat. (6/10)

Substitutes

Mikel Arteta: Bit of a nightmare afternoon for the Spaniard, who not only scored the own goal which put the hosts 2-1 up, but also conceded the free kick that led to their equaliser. (4/10)

Joel Campbell: Certainly should have scored an equaliser but missed a fine second-half chance. (4/10)