A curate’s egg of a match. Full of crazy statistics and ‘sliding doors’ moments, but ultimately revolving around the physical and mental effort that Arsenal put in (or failed to at times) at various stages. In the end, the score line makes it look like a comfortable win for Arsenal, but for a lot of the second half it was anything but. And for that…for me; blame the players for switching off at half time, thinking that they could coast through the rest of the game.
Arsenal were on top for pretty much the entire first half, and deservedly went in two goals ahead. But, for all that, there were moments of concern. Jamie Vardy, bane of our lives for several years in the not too distant past, is still quick and tricky enough to cause even the best of defenders problems, and managed to upset even the almost unrufflable Saliba on occasion.
If you go back to how the move for Arsenal’s first goal started, Saliba clearly held Vardy back in order for Calafiori to win the ball and start the move. Fortunately, it is clear that the VAR check didn’t go back that far. Vardy was even booked for complaining about it.
In truth, the first half was pretty much all Arsenal, and the scoreboard was given a more realistic feel in first half injury time when Trossard turned in Martinelli’s cross to make it 2-0. This followed the earlier finish from Martinelli, from Timber’s low cross, which will hopefully help to kick-start the young Brazilian’s season. It all pointed to a pretty routine home win - easy, even - but Arsenal came out for the second half apparently believing that - and playing like - the match was as good as over; whereas Leicester had certainly not given up.
Within 5 minutes of the second half starting, Arsenal had given up half of their advantage, and also had two men booked. Vardy’s sharp movement finally got Saliba a yellow card in the very first minute of the half, and Arsenal conceded from the resulting free kick as Justin’s header was inadvertently deflected by Havertz, wrong-footing David Raya and giving him little chance. It didn’t feel quite as rosy at that point, and the home team were finding it difficult to break out of their half-time lethargy. For me, there were flashbacks to occasions when Arsenal sides of the past 20 years or so had blown opportunities to take advantage of rivals’ slip ups; due to their collective mental weakness.
Indeed at 2-2 - Justin’s second goal a finish of great quality and one I doubt he'd ever hit as cleanly again - it all felt a little rocky. The Leicester fans were making a lot of noise, and the Arsenal crowd were shocked into silence. As, for a while, were the team.
But for the last 20 minutes, as Arsenal became more and more frantic in their search for a winner, the game was back to being one-way as they pummelled Leicester again and again, with only goalkeeper Hermansen preventing the raising of a cricket score. The lethargy of the previous 20 minutes or so was replaced by an onslaught, with the keeper saving the away side again and again. Saves from Havertz and Trossard, in particular, were exceptional.
Raheem Sterling replaced Martinelli, with his neat footwork causing the Leicester defence a different set of problems, but the introduction of Ethan Nwaneri on the other side of the pitch was far more notable. With his very first involvement, he beat three men and forced Hermansen into a full-length save. I’ve been telling people to watch out for the boy for a few weeks now - that Match Of The Day should devote a section to him at the end of their coverage of the game would suggest that we’re all on the right track with him. I wouldn’t start him in midweek, but Saturday looks like an ideal opportunity to let him loose on another promoted team in Southampton.
At the other end of the field Calafiori was fortunate not to be the third Arsenal player sent off this season as, having been carded earlier, he tripped Buonanotte. The referee instead chose to book the Leicester player for waving an imaginary card at him! I must admit that nobody around me noticed much of that at the time; but having seen it back on the television the Italian can count himself very fortunate indeed!
As the game moved into injury time, things were looking bleak as the spectre of points dropped to a considerably inferior team grew. But, finally, a corner routine paid off. Leicester had been presenting a different problem to Arsenal from corners compared to the previous two weeks, and so Jover had been instead looking to free a man up beyond the far post with many of the routines. And it finally paid off as Saka’s delivery eluded all but Leandro Trossard in that very spot. His side foot volley back into an incredibly crowded six yard box led to the unfortunate Ndidi deflecting the ball past Hermansen off the inside of a thigh. Cue massive relief all round.
Kai Havertz put the icing on the cake very late on - the linesman’s flag being overruled by the VAR - and so in the end the points were comfortably secured. But despite Arsenal having by far the better of the game statistically - 75% possession, 656 passes, 36 shots (in the top 10 of all Premier League matches), 17 on target in total, 63 clearances by Leicester players and 17 corners to 0 - there was a good portion of the game when the home side’s physical and mental effort could be questioned. And if I were Arteta that’s just what I would be doing. You simply can’t let up. And that’s precisely why - despite those extraordinary statistics, the teams were level going into extra time.
Anyway, hopefully that’s a lesson learned, and we have two more home games this week. First the enticing thought of PSG (regrettably Mbappe-less, of course) and then Southampton (with Aaron Ramsdale in goal) on Saturday. With Manchester City still trying to work out how to replace the injured Rodri, Arsenal must continue to take advantage.
COYG!
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