Arsenal 4
Leicester 2
I wrote in the build-up to this game about how Leicester, for all their woes, were a smarter opponent than they seemed and that they wouldn’t simply roll over.
Arsenal couldn’t afford to get complacent, I noted, particularly after watching Manchester City drop points earlier in the day against Newcastle.
So you can imagine my relief then when the Gunners finished a quite excellent first half with as tight a grip on the game as any of us could have hoped for. Two goals ahead and utterly dominant in possession, it felt like a question of how many we could score in the second half.
Complacency? What complacency?
And yet, for all that dominance, for all that panache and swagger – it’s goals that truly change games and Leicester, having done precious little in the opening half, bagged themselves a lifeline barely two minutes into the second half.
A nothing free-kick, conceded a good 40 yards or so from goal, deflected off Kai Havertz and beyond a stranded David Raya. It was as true a goal from nothing as you’ll see and Leicester were revived.
Suddenly, the swagger was gone and Arsenal, hitherto in total control, became a total mess. For the next 20 minutes or so, we lost all intensity, all control, and all sense of order. Our midfield became a gaping chasm through which Leicester now marauded at will.
It came as little surprise then when the visitors bagged a second goal. It was the very complacency I had feared before the game and, in recent times, quite out of character. In fairness, it was a quite incredible crossfield pass and an even better volley at the back post but, still, we should never have been in that situation in the first place.
Quite whether Leicester stepped off the gas themselves or we simply stepped through the gears is unclear but, with parity restored, Arsenal finally kicked into life again and the last 25 minutes of the match became a siege.
Were it not for the utter excellence of the Leicester goalkeeper, we may have found ourselves in front again a deal earlier but, as it was, we saw chance after chance go begging. Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori all saw chances superbly saved as the Gunners became increasingly desperate.
By the 90th minute, we had racked up some 34 shots, with 14 of those on target. Staggering stuff.
As things looked bleak, however, it was a trusty set piece that finally came up trumps, with Bukayo Saka’s deep corner turned back towards goal by Trossard and deflected into the net by Wilfred Ndidi. Cue pandemonium.
We added some gloss late on through Kai Havertz but, by that tie, the fight had gone out of Leicester after putting up a gutsy rearguard.
In the end, it was all three points but it might not have been. On another day, on plenty of other days, we wouldn’t have got the breaks we eventually did. Complacency is a hell of a drug.
After the match, Mikel Arteta said:
It got very emotional, more emotional than we wanted certainly but I am really pleased with the performance the way we played, the chances we created, how we dominated the game and after 2-0 the result should have been much bigger. But this is the Premier League, the quality of the opponent, the quality of Leicester, they scored two goals and I’m even happier how we dealt with that situation afterwards.
Mikel Arteta
I’m sure Mikel would much preferred to have gone three or four goals ahead early in the second half and been in a position where he could have taken a few of his players off. Alas, it wasn’t to be and the rest will have to come another day. For now, we have the three points and, when all is said and done, that’s what counts.
Blog on You Gunners 