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Arsenal recover from poor start to stun injury-hit Leicester as Harvey Barnes faces six weeks out

John Percy
·14-min read
Alexandre Lacazette - News Group Newspaper
Alexandre Lacazette - News Group Newspaper

An hour before kick-off, Mikel Arteta stood accused of gambling with his Premier League season by playing a weakened team and risking a defeat which would have left Arsenal as a speck in Brendan Rodgers’ wing-mirrors.

Perhaps Arteta does know what he is doing after all. Arsenal’s hopes of Champions League football next season may still depend on winning the Europa League, but this proved that they are in there fighting.

Bukayo Saka, their frequent inspiration, was not even required to come off the bench, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang played only the final six minutes, as Arsenal secured a deserved victory.

This will provide Arteta with huge encouragement for the final months, as Arsenal proved they can win without two of the key men who have carried them so many times this season.

The maligned Willian produced arguably his best performance for the club yet, while Nicolas Pepe was also excellent.

Arsenal’s hopes of a top-four finish remain remote but at least they proved their domestic campaign is not flatlining just yet.

The only disappointment for Arsenal was the withdrawal of attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe, who sustained a muscular injury in the second-half.

Arteta said: “The team is really improving and taking a direction that I like. I'm really happy we could make a lot of changes and still produce a performance. It's not that we have to rotate, I want to rotate and give a chance to the players for the way they train every day.

“The senior players are the ones that have to drive us forward and then we can have something with the young talented players that we have but it can't be the opposite way around.

“They need to have that leadership and be accountable in the team as they are the ones that have to produce week in week out for some stability.”

While Arsenal were resurgent, this was a worrying afternoon for Rodgers and Leicester. After their dismal exit from Europe on Thursday, their performance was riddled with fatigue and lacking intensity, with a deeply concerning injury for winger Harvey Barnes early in the second half.

Barnes was stretchered off with a knee injury and minutes later Arsenal added their third goal to effectively claim the three points.

Harvey Barnes out for up to six weeks
Harvey Barnes out for up to six weeks

The anger of Kasper Schmeichel was clear for much of the afternoon, with the Leicester goalkeeper frequently filling the air with expletives that would have required a ‘Parental Advisory’ caution.

Arteta must have feared a chastening afternoon when Youri Tielemans took full advantage of some shambolic defending from Arsenal after just six minutes.

Inexplicably, the Belgian midfielder was allowed to run 30 yards unchallenged from the right flank into the penalty area before driving a low shot across Bernd Leno.

It was the worst possible start for Arteta, who was already under scrutiny for making so many changes, with Thomas Partey also named among the substitutes.

But Arsenal did respond, and were denied a penalty by a Var review seven minutes later after Wilfred Ndidi caught Pepe just outside Leicester’s area.

They equalised in the 39th minute, with David Luiz unmarked and rising to direct a header into the corner from Willian’s free-kick.

With the first-half in added time, Arsenal moved in front. Ndidi clearly handled Pepe’s shot in the box and after referee Paul Tierney reviewed the incident on his TV monitor, Alexandre Lacazette swept home from the spot.

The momentum of the game had completely shifted. Leicester looked tired and devoid of their attacking verve, three days after being knocked out of the Europa League by Slavia Prague.

Their problems increased when Barnes was stretchered off early in the second-half after appearing to overstretch his knee in an attempt to retrieve the ball.

Arsenal added a third in the 52nd minute, with Pepe presented with a simple task of putting away the loose ball after Leicester’s defence were outnumbered.

It appears Leicester’s congested season, and their growing injury list, is finally catching up with them.

Their top-four hopes are still very much alive and, perhaps, Arteta would say the same about Arsenal.

01:59 PM

FULL TIME - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Big win for Arsenal, who rested several players. Manager Mikel Arteta will feel vindicated by his decisions. Pepe, Willian and Xhaka all impressed.

Leicester lost their way after their early goal and lost three players to injury.

01:57 PM

90+6 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Iheanacho has his head in his hands after blazing wildly over at the far post.

01:55 PM

90+4 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Leicester continue to push for a consolation but Arsenal have managed the game well and look set to be rewarded.

01:54 PM

90+2 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Yellow card for Tierney after a foul on Vardy. Arsenal clear the resulting free-kick.

01:51 PM

90 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Seven minutes of time added on. Still time for Leicester.

01:50 PM

88 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Pepe is down after receiving a dead leg from Soyuncu. That will be sore.

01:48 PM

87 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Aubameyang curls an effort just wide of the post.

01:44 PM

83 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Final sub for Arsenal sees Aubameyang replace Lacazette.

01:42 PM

80 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Arsenal continue to manage the game well. Leicester look leggy but with Vardy they will always have a threat.

01:37 PM

75 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Xhaka gets a forearm in the face from Iheanacho. The Swiss is not happy and the referee tells him to calm down.

01:33 PM

72 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Clearest chance in a long time for Leicester falls to Albrighton, who fires a goalbound shot but it is blocked by Vardy.

Tielemans is then booked for a foul.

01:30 PM

68 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

A third change for Leicester sees Evans come off and Amartey replace him.

01:27 PM

66 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Second sub by Arsenal sees Partey come on for Elneny.

01:26 PM

64 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Leicester play the ball over the top for Vardy to sprint onto but Mari matches him for speed and wins the duel.

He won't want to be in that position often.

01:20 PM

59 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Leicester are trying to up their level but without Maddison and now Barnes, it could prove tricky for them.

01:16 PM

54 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3

Luiz is in need of treatment for a head injury.

01:13 PM

52 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 3 GOAL Pepe

Arsenal break away at the half way line. Xhaka feeds Pepe, who bursts away and finds Odegaard. Odegaard plays it to Willian, who squares it for Pepe to tap in.

Big goal.

01:10 PM

49 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 2

Doesn't look for Barnes as his left leg is put in a brace. Under will come on for Thomas.

01:09 PM

47 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 2

Barnes is down for Leicester and in need of treatment after overstretching for the ball.

01:05 PM

45 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 2

A change for Leicester with Albrighton coming on for Thomas. Thomas was struggling badly against Pepe and Arsenal would have targetted him in the second half. Ricardo has moved to left-back.

12:52 PM

HALF_TIME - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 2

Arsenal made a terrible start to the half. But finished it excellently. Leicester didn't do much after scoring early and that allowed Arsenal to take control of the game. Willian and Pepe impressed. Vardy anonymous.

12:47 PM

45+2 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 2 GOAL Lacazette

Lacazette scores. The captain sends Schmeichel the wrong way. Remarkable turnaround by the away side.

12:45 PM

45 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 1

Arsenal penalty confirmed.

12:45 PM

44 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 1

Arsenal appeal for a penalty for handball by Ndidi. VAR taking a look.

12:42 PM

41 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 1

A blow for Arsenal as Smith Rowe is forced off with an injury and Odegaard comes on.

12:40 PM

39 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 1 GOAL Luiz

Good ball in by Willian and Luiz heads it into the far post. Arsenal deserve that for their play since going behind.

12:39 PM

38 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Thomas fouls Pepe again and is booked. Free-kick Arsenal.

12:38 PM

36 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Pepe is fouled again and Arsenal have another free kick out wide. But once again Leicester deal with it.

The home side then break away but the pass to Vardy is well read by Tierney.

12:34 PM

33 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Good approach play by Arsenal but they are yet to seriously test Leicester.

12:30 PM

28 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Another wide free kick for Arsenal. It is taken by Willian but it goes beyond everyone.

12:28 PM

25 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Arsenal on top. Pepe should finish off Tierney's cross but he miscues the finish.

Then the ball comes to Willian on the edge of Leicester's box but he drags his left-foot shot wide.

12:22 PM

21 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Iheanacho gets into space and clips a ball over the ball to Vardy but it is just too high. But there's the danger.

Moments later, Barnes tests Leno from distance with a shot.

12:19 PM

17 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Arsenal are dominating the ball but Leicester are soaking up the pressure and primed to break on the counter attack.

12:16 PM

14 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Pepe's cross into the box is headed away for a corner. The corner is then cleared by the home side.

12:14 PM

13 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

VAR look at the footage and say no penalty. Free kick outside the box.

12:13 PM

12 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Penalty to Arsenal. Pepe is fouled in the box by Tielemans.

12:09 PM

9 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0

Arsenal have a habit of making poor starts to matches it has happened again for them.

They have conceded inside the first six minutes in three of their last four matches.

12:07 PM

7 mins - Leicester City 1 Arsenal 0 GOAL Tielemans

Terrible defending by Arsenal. Tielemans wins the ball from Xhaka and sprints clear. No Arsenal defender goes to close the Belgian down and he fires into the bottom corner.

12:04 PM

3 mins - Leicester City 0 Arsenal 0

Cagey start by both teams. Leicester's dangerman Vardy is yet to get into the game.

12:00 PM

Kick Off - Leicester City 0 Arsenal 0

Leicester get the match underway.

11:56 AM

Arteta speaks

"We want some consistency in the Premier League - we want to improve our position dramatically and that means winning games.

"At the end of the day, it’s not where we want to be. At the Emirates, Leicester sat back and played defensive, so I don’t know what to expect - we’ve prepared for both style of games."

11:44 AM

Vardy loves playing against Arsenal

11:32 AM

Pre-game stats

  • Leicester City have won four of their last six Premier League matches against Arsenal
  • Arsenal have lost their last three away Premier League matches against Leicester, receiving more red cards (2) than goals scored (1) in these three games.
  • Leicester City have won six of their seven Premier League games immediately following a European fixture this season, while Arsenal have lost six of their seven such games.

11:20 AM

Team news

Plenty of changes by both sides for this match.

Harvey Barnes, Ricardo Pereira and Timothy Castagne return to Leicester's starting XI after being second-half substitutes in Thursday's 2-0 Europa League defeat to Slavia Prague.

Kelechi Iheanacho starts in attack with James Maddison out injured.

For Arsenal, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard are all on the bench.

Alexandre Lacazette, Willian, Nicolas Pepe, Mohamed Elneny, Cedric Soares and Pablo Mari come into the side as Mikel Arteta aims to rest weary legs.

11:02 AM

Arsenal starting XI

11:01 AM

Leicester starting XI

10:56 AM

Morning!

Hello and welcome to coverage of Leicester City and Arsenal from the King Power Stadium.

The two teams come into the match after contrasting nights in the Europa League on Thursday.

Leicester were surprisingly beaten 2-0 by Slavia Prague to crash out of the tournament while Arsenal fought back from 2-1 down to win 3=2 thanks to a late goal by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Jamie Vardy was unable to impact the game for Leicester and has now scored just once in his last 11 matches but boss Brendan Rodgers has backed him to rediscover his form.

"I always get 100 per cent from Jamie," he said, with the Foxes third in the Premier League going into the weekend. "His mentally is strong and even when he is not in the game as such he's always ready for opportunities which come along.

"You saw in the game (against Arsenal) when he came off the bench for the last half an hour he was sensational.

"He will always disrupt defenders' balance. He hasn't quite got the service but we've still been winning - that's important - and it's not down to just Jamie to score the goals. The contribution has to come from the team.

"He's the type of striker who relies on service, in terms of his movement as well and making more runs.

"He is a player who needs the service and when you have so many players out - the guys who can serve him - it makes it a little more difficult for him."

Meanwhile, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he is confident Willian will show his quality after providing an assist in the midweek win.

"He is a player who we all like," Arteta said of Willian.

"His team-mates like him and we were expecting many more things from him since he joined but for many different reasons he hasn't found his best performances.

"But hopefully Thursday's performance is going to give him the platform and belief that he is a really important player - he is a player I really like and I did a lot to bring him in and hopefully he can still give us more.

"I was really pleased with Willian on Thursday and he totally deserves some credit because of the way he trains every day and he is trying.

"In games now you can see that he is starting to produce what we think he can do for the team so everyone has to step up and create big moments in games because the front players in the end have to be the ones that decide the game for us."