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Arsenal told this 'isn't how you win titles' as national media react to last-gasp Leicester win

Leandro Trossard of Arsenal celebrates
-Credit: (Image: (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))


Arsenal left it late to take advantage off Manchester City dropping points with two stoppage time goals to beat Leicester 4-2 at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners dominated early proceedings and found themselves two goals in front courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

The Foxes fought back though and the deficit was halved when a teasing free kick bounced off the head of Kai Havertz and beyond the wrong-footed David Raya. James Justin, who was the last Leicester player to get a touch on their first goal of the afternoon, fired in an exquisite equaliser, whipping a first-time volley with the outside of his foot into the far corner.

Mikel Arteta's side were not to be denied though and this time they were the team to find the back of the net beyond the 90-minute mark. A deep Bukayo Saka corner reached Trossard at the back post with his pass back across goal hitting Wilfried Ndidi before drifting through the legs of Mads Hermansen.

Kai Havertz then netted a scrappy fourth to make sure of the points with Arsenal catching up to Man City following their 1-1 draw against Newcastle earlier in the day. With all of that being said, football.london has rounded up what the national media are all saying after such a late win for Arteta and his players.

The Guardian

David Hytner writes that considering the last week for Arsenal, their winning goal "just had to be from a corner and it also had to be Leandro Trossard". He adds: "The fall-out from last Sunday’s explosive 2-2 draw at Manchester City had raged, a prominent talking point, the moment which shaped Arsenal’s darkly impressive rearguard action being Trossard’s second yellow card for kicking the ball away. Here, he rescued his team.

"It looked like being a story of Arsenal throwing away two points from a winning position for the third time this season. That, and a sensational second-half goalscoring cameo by the Leicester right-back, James Justin, plus the defiance of the goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen."

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On the hosts' control and decisive goal, he wrote: "Arsenal’s total dominance of the first half, which had taken in goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard looked set to count for little, especially as they could not find a way back through in regulation time.

"Enter Trossard. There were 94 minutes on the clock when Bukayo Saka sent across a deep corner and there was Trossard, the man over that Arsenal always seem to have beyond the far post in these situations, to guide a volley towards goal. It took a heavy deflection off Wilfred Ndidi to beat Hermansen and Arsenal were on their way to taking advantage of City’s draw at Newcastle earlier in the day."

The Athletic

James McNicholas spoke of Mads Hermansen's brilliance but also of Arsenal's total domination that eventually resulted in them breaking Leicester's resistance. "This was not a game that Leicester City’s goalkeeper, Mads Hermansen, deserved to lose. But it was still a game that Arsenal deserved to win," he wrote.

“In the end, luck was on our side,” Leandro Trossard told the club’s website after the game. There’s some truth in that. As Arsenal searched for a way past the outstanding Hermansen, Trossard’s side-foot volley across goal was turned in by Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi. The Kai Havertz goal that sealed this 4-2 victory came when James Justin slid in to clear the ball against the Germany international’s boot.

"But Arsenal getting a slice of luck in the final throes doesn’t tell the full story of the match. There was an element of fortune, too, in how Leicester came back from 2-0 down to equalise. First, Justin’s header deflected off Havertz before looping beyond David Raya into the net. Then Justin executed a superb volley that left Raya with no chance — if you presented the full-back with 100 more opportunities to strike that floating ball, he might not make such clean contact again.

"Both teams had moments where fortune favoured them in front of goal but Arsenal generated so many, many more of those moments — and it was only the brilliance of Hermansen that kept them at bay. The 24-year-old goalkeeper had the game of his life — and yet conceded four goals."

The Independent

Miguel Delaney meanwhile, questioned Arsenal's Premier League title race credentials, writing, "If this title race is to be “a war”, as Gabriel put it, Arsenal have claimed victory in a battle that may end up much more decisive than anyone expected. What should have been a comfortable 3pm home win against a relegation-threatened Leicester City was transformed into a game that tested the club’s nerves but will have reaffirmed the spirit, through a late 4-2 win.

"The very fact it went to that from 2-2 in the 94th minute only tells part of what this game was, especially given it had been 2-0 at half-time. It might also tell us a bit more about what Arsenal will be by the end of the season – mere challengers again or actual champions?

"Just hours after Manchester City had dropped two points against Newcastle United, Arsenal looked set to unexpectedly do the same against Leicester. Except, it would have been even worse than squandering the chance to go level with the champions. It would have been the third time in four games the Gunners had lost a lead, and looked like it was going to be six points dropped from winning positions.

"There were some caveats to that, given the red cards against both Brighton and City and the strength of the latter, but that really isn’t how you win titles."