Match Report: Leicester City 1 – 3 Arsenal

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Leicester City (1) 1 Arsenal (2) 3

Premier League

King Power Stadium, Filbert Way, Leicester LE2 7FL

Sunday, 28th February 2021. Kick-off time: 12 noon

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Cédric Soares, David Luiz, Pablo Marí, Kieran Tierney; Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka; Nicolas Pépé, Emile Smith-Rowe, Willian Borges da Silva; Alexandre Lacazette.

Substitutes: Hector Bellerin, Bukayo Saka, Dani Ceballos, Martin Ødegaard, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Rob Holding, Thomas Partey, Mat Ryan, Gabriel Martinelli.

Scorers: David Luiz (39 mins), Alexandre Lacazette (45+2 mins), Nicolas Pépé (52 mins)

Yellow Cards: Kieran Tierney

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 56%

Referee: Paul Tierney

Assistant Referees: Dan Cook, Harry Lennard

Fourth Official: Michael Oliver

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR David Coote; AVAR Nick Hopton

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

After Thursday’s glorious victory against Benfica, we are back to our bread-and-butter matches in the Premiership, and with it comes the usual team formation merry-go-round that we have come to accept as part of a Mikel Arteta era at the club, which in many ways, is a good thing, especially when it comes down to possible player fatigue. Rob Holding and Thomas Partey are back on the substitute’s bench, along with two of our outstanding players from the Benfica match, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bukayo Saka. However, the proof of the Arsenal pudding could be in the Leicester City eating today, as there is everything to play for in the East Midlands. An important match, in which no team can afford to lose. Let’s go!

Within six minutes, after starting so well, we were a goal down, when Youri Tielemans picked up a ball on the right after a mix-up, ran thirty yards and slotted it past the outstretched arm of Bernd Leno into the Arsenal goal. But why did Pablo Marí decline to tackle Youri Tielemans when he could have prevented the goal? Unbelievable. Almost immediately, we nearly equalised when Emile Smith-Rowe ran through on the right and was unlucky not to be able to cross the ball for Alexandre Lacazette to tap it into the net. On the twelfth minute, Youri Tielemans and Wilfried Ndidi brought down Nicolas Pépé just outside the Foxes’ penalty area; after a lengthy VAR check, in which Paul Tierney initially gave a penalty to us, the subsequent free-kick bounced off the head of Luke Thomas for an Arsenal corner. Early dramas! Kieran Tierney came close to equalising when an excellent Willian ball fell to him, and his shot (or was it a cross?) came off Jonny Evans and went back into open play; despite pressure from the home side, we were managing to break out when we could and attempt to redress the balance. Despite some good play, Arsenal were unable to penetrate the Foxes’ defence at this time in the match. It is to be noted that Nicolas Pépé is having a tough time out there today, having been the target of several Leicester City defenders time and time again, which led to a few Arsenal free-kicks this half. Six minutes before half-time (after yet another foul on Nicolas Pépé), a Willian free-kick, which was taken perfectly, found the head of David Luiz, who wasted no time in levelling up the scores. A couple of minutes later, an injured Emile Smith-Rowe was replaced by Martin Ødegaard, and literally on the stroke of half-time, we were awarded a penalty when a Nicolas Pépé shot struck the arm of Wilfried Ndidi (which was in an unnatural position); Alexandre Lacazette made no mistake from the spot, and so we went into the break in the affirmative.

The second half started quite strongly with both sides feeling the urgency of the outcome of the game today. Seven minutes after the restart, we scored our third of the day, when Nicolas Pépé started a passing movement in the Leicester City penalty area, and after some superb intricate play between Alexandre Lacazette and Willian, the man who started the process, Nicolas Pépé simply tapped the ball into the empty Foxes’ net. A couple of minutes’ later, David Luiz left the pitch for a while after a header that appeared to go wrong, but thankfully he returned to the field of play to take up his important position in the centre of our defence. Speaking of our defenders, the second half performance of all of them had been exemplary in keeping out the Leicester City strikers, when danger appears to be imminent. A case in point was when just after the hour, Jamie Vardy was brushed off the ball by Pablo Marí just outside the Arsenal penalty area with only Bernd Leno standing between the Leicester City striker and the goal; a good strong professional tackle by a superb defender that prevented a goal. Thomas Partey replaced Mohamed Elneny with twenty-five minutes of the match remaining, and the substitution just served to make us stronger and more alert in the midfield area. Granit Xhaka went down following an arm in the face by Kelechi Iheanacho but he carried on with no apparent issue, and with ten minutes of the match remaining, we were in full control of the outcome of the game. With eight minutes of the match left, a superb Kieran Tierney shot brushed the outside of Kaspar Schmeichel’s post, and shortly afterwards, Alexandre Laczette was replaced by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the final few minutes of the game. He almost scored shortly afterwards with a strong shot from outside of the penalty area that went narrowly past the post, and as the minutes ticked away, the match started to get more physical with both Kieran Tierney and Nicolas Pépé being the recipients of such behaviour. In the seven minutes injury time, we were put under pressure by the home side, but in the end, we stayed firm to get the three points.

An excellent win despite starting off rather badly. We were dogged, determined and took our chances well, and overall, we were by far the better side at the King Power Stadium today. Willian was superb, as was Nicolas Pépé, despite getting some rough treatment at the hands of the Leicester City defenders. At the time of writing, we are tenth in the Premiership, and out next match is against Burnley next Saturday, which should give the lads a good opportunity to recharge their batteries in the meantime.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday, 6th March at 12.30pm (Premier League). Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.

Why this summer could be the right time for Hector Bellerin to leave Arsenal

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News filtered through yesterday that this season could be the last for Hector Bellerin – with the right back having come to an agreement last summer with Mikel Arteta that he would be free to leave the club in 2021.

I love Hector, but this summer feels like the right time to for him and Arsenal to part ways.

Bellerin left Barcelona to join Arsenal at just 16-years-old, moving to London and developing a Cockney-Spanish accent as a result.

A loan spell at Watford showed his talent and his career looked to be on an upwards path following Matthieu Debuchy’s injury.

Pretty much an ever-present for 3 years, he picked up a horrible ACL injury against Chelsea in early 2019 and has never really recovered.

That injury seemed to take half a yard of pace off him – crucial as he was not the best defender positionally and relied on a burst of pace to beat a man in attack. He has not looked the same player since his return.

Bellerin has come in for criticism for his off the field interests.

I am not sure why liking fashion, being a vegan and caring about the environment led him to come in for so much criticism.

It is actually refreshing to have a player that is clearly an intelligent young man, taking a keen interest in politics (whether you agree with those politics or not) and fashion.

Maybe some fans were threatened by his intelligence? After all, it was Bellerin who was invited to speak at Oxford University whilst they can barely get a coherent word out on Twitter or their YouTube channels.

I would much rather my players take a keen interest in politics and fashion rather then be falling out of night clubs at 2am, pissed as a fart; or lacking so much intelligence that they would be unable to answer the first question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

And why they criticised him for his veganism and caring for the environment baffles me further.

They seemed to associate his veganism with his fitness issues. But Novak Djokovic has just won yet another grand-slam on a plant based diet.

Removing gluten, diary and meat from his diet saw Djokovic’s fitness improve; and since he made the change has gone on to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

If you have not watched the Netflix documentary The Game Changers I would advise you to do so.

And then we have the environmental campaigning.

Again, I would much prefer to have a multi dimensional player like Bellerin talking about climate change rather than a player who can barely give a coherent interview.

The likes of Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford have been heavily praised in the media for what they have done outside of football. Speaking out against racism, poverty and other subjects. Intelligent young men.

Bellerin is in the same camp.

Imagine criticising a player because he promoted a charity that plants trees.

We at She Wore supported his drive and donated to One Tree Planted. In the end Hector raised enough to plant 58,617 trees.

Instead of backing the campaign, we saw YouTubers charging £5 a time for people to pay them to have a tweet read out. The fact they failed to join the donation drive shows how hard up they are!

It is probably the right time for Bellerin to leave.

Since his injury he has stagnated; a move away could get his career moving forward again – a fresh challenge.

Whilst for Arsenal, he has become a weak link on that right hand side.

At this point in his career, Bellerin perhaps needs that new challenge.

You came to London as a 16-year-old boy and you have grown into a well rounded, intelligent, multi dimensional young man.

I am sure over the years you have developed thick skin due to those that abuse, and they will celebrate you leaving in their bed sits in Spain, Luton, Barking, Wood Green or America.

But you have achieved more in life, influenced more people, at 25-years-old than these people will in their lifetime.

Bellerin is a positive influence on the world; promoting his causes, his passions.

So Hector, if this is your last season with us, thanks for the last 7 seasons.

Keenos

Arsenal Avoid Another Greek Tragedy as Aubameyang Saves the Day

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Heading into Thursday night’s second leg match against Benfica, Arsenal fans were all too aware of the dangers involved in taking supposedly inferior opposition lightly. 

Last year’s exit against Olympiacos wasn’t so much an upset as a shock of seismic proportions that stunned the club and its supporters to the core. Consequently, it was fitting that, 12 months on, Arsenal atoned for that fateful night in the stadium of the side who knocked them out of the Europa League last term. 

A battling Benfica side featuring a host of recognisable names including Jan Vertonghen, Adel Taarabt and Nicolas Otamendi made life difficult for Mikel Arteta’s men, but theymade far harder work of the tie themselves through a collective failure to banish basic errors from their game.

Now Thursday night regulars, nervy nights in the second tier of European competition have become almost commonplace for Arsenal fans. Benfica, who are in danger of finishing outside the top three in Portugal’s domestic league for the first time in 13 seasons, are not the continental force of yesteryear. As fondly as the team that won successive European Cups in the early 1960s will be remembered, this version of OsEncarnados is nowhere near the level of Eusebio and co. The Gunners should have sauntered through to the last 16 butsuffered a severe case of stage fright under the evening spotlight. 

A howler of a missed header from Dani Ceballos, who backpedalled so perilously in jumping for the ball that he ended up doing a perfect impression of Michael Jackson’s moonwalk, allowed Rafa Silva to stroll the ball into an empty net. Arsenal now needed to score twice to advance. Kieran Tierney fired an effort into the far corner to give them hope, but another tragic exit was a mere three minutes away. 

Cue the centre stage arrival of protagonist Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. 

Guilty of missing chances that were gilt-edged in Rome a week ago, the skipper made amends for a poor performance at the Olimpico, when he rose highest to head home a ball from the ever-lively Bukayo Saka. Of course, with it being a game involving Arsenal, there was time for one more act in a frantic finale. In the 92nd minute, the ball crashed against Bernd Leno’s post and Gooners who did not swallow their tongue in fright, let out an exasperated sigh of relief.

Arteta’s side showed grit, fight and resolve in rallying from behind to snatch the tie yet, as promising as it is to see Arsenal win in a steely fashion, it should not detract from other problems that have become apparent. 

Conceding twice to Benfica means a sixth successive game without a clean sheet for the men in red and white. A lack of solidity at the back must be addressed with Leicester, Tottenham and Liverpool to come in the Premier League. At the other end of the park, Arsenal were clinical in Athens, scoring three times from five shots on target. However, an xG (expected goals) of just 2.55 over two legs versus Benfica demonstrates lingering deficiencies in chance creation that need to be tackled. 

Over-playing the aforementioned Saka is another issue Arteta must be wary of. He is, without doubt, Arsenal’s most dynamic and unpredictable attacking threat, so adept is he at driving into space with the ball from midfield or, as he did for Aubameyang, putting it on a plate for team-mates to finish. Despite his importance to this team, Saka is still just 19 years of age and must not be played into the ground whilst still developing. 

Arteta has previously called for Nicolas Pepe to perform more consistently, something the Ivorian may be able to achieve were he to regularly appear in the starting line-up. The return of Gabriel Martinelli provides another handy rotational option, as he is capable of filling across the front three. Whatever the Arsenal manager’s personal policy on rotation is, he cannot afford to neglect it, particularly if the north Londoners are to progress further in the Europa League off the back of a morale-boosting victory in Greece. 

Naturally, for a side that finds itself in mid-table, there are issues and imperfections that require ironing if Arsenal are to qualify for Europe through the league. And yet, a 

topsy-turvy tie that ended in progression this time round serves as an example for Arteta and Arsenal. An example which demonstrates that, if application levels are high, all is not lost in what remains of this strange season.

Zac Campbell