Unai Emery, Arsenal’s
manager, was relieved by a
two-goal lead, helped by Marcos Alonso’s
long range strike, over the ill-tempered
EPL
) leaders at the King Power
Stadium. Arsenal’s status on
third and the prospect of
not only qualifying for the Champions
League but then moving back
up to third, where it spent much of the
campaign, was under scrutiny after
a dramatic reverse in the
last round of fixtures at home to
Manchester United. Arsenal would
have moved above Spurs and only
behind Chelsea by virtue of a better
goals difference but, after a woeful
display against United, that
could well be the case before
tomorrow’s return fixture,
following the required 10 days.
Arsenal’s
defence, headed by Shkodran Mustafi and
centred around Laurent Koscielny,
also required solving
after defender Rob Holding was
sent off for a second yellow in
the 70th minute, much to the
needlessly aggrieved delight of City
nursery. Although Arsenal
only had little in the way of
attacks, those they did have
seemed to have the effect of
forcing Leicester, without
Barry Robson and Claudio Ranieri,
on the back foot. Lee Grant, Arsenal’s
third keeper of the game, denied
Noah Smith on the counter but,
when Lyon-bound Arsenal
substitute Danny Welbeck did
get on the end of an Alonso flick,
Grant matched the speed of the
forward’s goalmouth movement
and blocked the shot.
The build-up to the goal was
beautifully tidy and anticipated
by Arsenal, who had worked
such wonders in keeping the
opponents off the board
in their 2-1 home win last
time out. Arsenal, who
introduced youngster Toni
Oxlade-Chamberlain in place of
Addison Wilshere, did not do
much more with the ball
but it made a significant impression
on Pearce, an Arsenal
fan growing up, after flying through
the central midfield.
A corner saw City’s Pablo
Zabaleta attempt a header but
Oxlade-Chamberlain outjumped him
and headed the ball
straight to Alonso, who had
taken it on the run. Arriving
with 10 minutes remaining,
Alonso, the only player who had
made a league start for
Arsenal so far this season,
converted neatly from 12 yards.
The only complaint was that
Arsenal, while packing the
area to meet a lofted ball into
the box, had shown little
consistency as they were of
deterrent note when forced
into corners. In the first
half they played on the back
foot for as long as
opponents could contain
them, waiting for space to
be exploited. That was
how Silva set up Welbeck’s
equaliser in the second minute.
The Argentinian set up Leroy
Sane in the penalty area for
what should have been a
fine finish, but in trying to
find his team mate the ball
was not dealt with properly by
Oxlade-Chamberlain.
City controlled possession
for long periods of the first
half but failed to create
much. Eric Dier was off
target with a header in the
61st minute and
levelled nine minutes later
when he intercepted a pass
and fired past Grant from
the edge of the box.
Goalscorer Dier has an
outstanding record in the
league, with only five league
goals, but his display has
become a lasting source of
enjoyment for Arsenal fans.
