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Dynamic Leicester pile more misery on Arsenal as black clouds loom over forlorn Unai Emery
It said plenty about the current state of these two teams that one of the biggest surprises on another invigorating night for Leicester City was that it took nearly 70 minutes for them to find a way past this Arsenal defence. Times have changed in the Premier League and there was no better example of these sides’ respective paths than the way Leicester dominated an Arsenal team which came here with the primary objective of keeping their opponents at bay.
There were moments when it looked as if Unai Emery’s side, all nerves and defensive hiccups in recent weeks, might have rediscovered some of their long-lost solidity. Calum Chambers was flying into tackles, David Luiz was marshalling a three-man defence.
They should have known, though, that Jamie Vardy would have his say. He always has his say against Arsenal, the team that once tried to secure his services. Emery’s side are ripe for terrorising right now and there is no one more adept at exposing their weaknesses than Vardy, whose goal was his ninth in his nine league starts against Arsenal.
Having scored one, Vardy then created a quickfire second for James Maddison, his primary partner-in-crime, as Brendan Rodgers and his boys jumped into second place. “I came here to make an impact and hopefully create something we can sustain over a period of years,” Rodgers said afterwards.
Could they even sustain a title challenge? Rodgers was not taking the bait, although he did say that Leicester have thrown a “hand grenade” into the big-six party. The effects of this particular grenade will be felt from Old Trafford to Stamford Bridge and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. And that is before we even come to Arsenal, where Emery is appearing ever more forlorn on the touchline.
The “sacked in the morning” chants from the home crowd were almost certainly premature - as of this week there had been no indication to Emery that his job is under immediate threat - but Arsenal cannot continue like this for much longer. Change is needed, and Emery believes he needs time to deliver it.
“I am speaking with the club to stay calm and to stay patient,” he said. “We have young players who are improving and growing up with us. We are receiving criticism but I know that is my job.
“I accept the applause and I accept it when they criticise us. I know when we win, they [the fans] are going to be happy and when we lose, they are going to be sad. It's normal. We need to stay calm.”
In terms of the performance itself, there were genuine moments of promise for Arsenal. They were certainly better organised than in recent weeks, with Emery saying the players had largely followed the “game plan” he had devised for them. That game plan, which often featured a five-man defence, was more reactive than proactive, though, and the defensive approach felt like an admission that Leicester are simply a better side.
Which they are, of course. Arsenal have now won just one of their last seven matches. Leicester have won eight of their last nine, and their tally of 26 points from their 12 league games this season is their highest ever, including their title-winning season in 2015/16.
“The beauty of these players is that we have a style and identity to how we want to play,” said Rodgers. “It is a huge credit to the players because of how they have adapted to how I have asked them to work and everything they have put in has been very good. They are playing with confidence, they are playing with a steel.”
With Vardy in attack, they are also playing with arguably the league’s most dangerous striker. The Premier League’s top scorer was kept quiet for large spells here but once again he did the damage to Arsenal in the key moments of the game. To score one and create another was proof of his match-winning quality and his finishing made for a telling contrast with the struggles of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette at the other end.
“I have to say he has been a dream to work with,” said Rodgers. “He is tactically brilliant in the game and he trains every day to be the best he can be.”
The worrying truth for Arsenal is that Leicester should really have been in front before Vardy’s interventions towards the end. Wilfred Ndidi had crashed an effort against the bar at the start of the second half, and there were a series of wasted half-chances in the first as Chambers and Luiz defended resolutely for the visitors.
Arsenal did have opportunities of their own, particularly on the counter-attack. Lacazette and Hector Bellerin fired off target and Mesut Ozil - tackling and pressing in uncharacteristic style - caused problems on the few occasions he was provided with decent service.
But Vardy’s goal felt inevitable. It was a team effort with Harvey Barnes and Youri Tielemans proving too sharp as they allowed Vardy to sweep his low finish into the corner after finding space inside the penalty box.
The second came just minutes later, with Vardy again proving to be the primary mischief-maker. His lay-off found Maddison, whose drilled effort scorched inside Bernd Leno’s near post and confirmed what few are questioning: Leicester are on the up, while Arsenal are scrambling for a foothold.
Full time
Leicester, always the better side, were in control for the entire first half, should have had a penalty if VAR worked properly and completed a deserved victory with two exceptionally well-taken goals. Arsenal are in a mess. But you knew that.
90+2 min
"Arsenal are heading nowhere fast," says Alan Smith. There will be few who care disagreeing with him.
90 min
We'll have three minutes more. Arsenal are passing the ball around but there's no effective link between defence and attack.
88 min
Bellerin is booked for shoving Vardy as they raced after a ball played over the top of Arsenal's midfield. Vardy falls awkwardly on his elbow and looks in pain. Alan Smith, with a foot in both camps, names James Maddison as man of the match. After treatment Vardy comers back on.
87 min
Pepe pushes Chilwell in the throat after the left-back annoyingly persisted with thwarting his desire to take a quick free-kick. The referee has a word but leaves it at that.
85 min
Leicester fans are beginning to olé every touch as they lord it over the opposition with a sustained spell of possession.
83 min
'Sacked in the morning' inevitably begins to reverberate around the stadium.
82 min
After successful but hairy defences of a couple of Leicester corners, Emery sends on Willock for Torreira. There's a sense that Leicester are toying with Arsenal now.
80 min
Tielemans chances his arm from 25 yards and belts it over the bar. It's all Leicester. Arsenal look punch drunk.
79 min
Arsenal substitution: Pepe comes on for Holding.
77 min
Superb finish from Maddison teed up by Vardy at the edge of the area. He receives the ball on his right foot and slots it through Bellerin's legs with unstoppable power and precision into the bottom left corner. Praet started that with his first touch, a fine pass to pick out Vardy's run.
GOAL!!
Leicester 2-0 Arsenal (Maddison)
75 min
74 min
Second Leicester sub: Praet comes on and Barnes exits.
73 min
Leno saves from Vardy low to his left by his left post after Leicester counter with pace. Lovely pass from Gray right into his path and Vardy puts his laces through it. Leno would have felt that force ...
72 min
Arsenal break at pace but unlike Leicester can't find the final pass. Bellerin on the overlap with Lacazette lurking couldn't pick him out.
71 min
Barnes burns past Guendouzi up the Leicester left and is only thwarted by Holding reading the run and racing over to help.
69 min
Beautifully slick goal. Pereira and Gray work space on the right and the right-back slips a pass inside to Barnes who flicks it with his his heel to Tielemans. It's all one-touch and Tielemans joins in with a sharp pass to Vardy who buries a shot from 10 yards out on the left of the area beyond a scrambling Leno who had to traverse his goalline because of the speed of the switch.
GOAL!!
Leicester 1-0 Arsenal (Vardy)
67 min
Gray drives up the right, cuts back on to his left foot and scuds a low shot that Leno smothers.
65 min
Leicester appeal for a handball and a penalty when Barnes' attempted throughball strikes Holding and then Guendouzi on the chest. Nothing doing. Back come Leicester up the right and walk the ball through the box but the cross by Gray for Maddison is a foot too far infront and he can only stab it in the general direction of VArdy instead of shooting. Chambers nips in.
64 min
Arsenal commit bodies to the corner and keep them up there when it's recycled to the edge of the box but Leicester stand firm.
62 min
Nice pass from Bellerin frees Torreira to scamper through the middle to the edge of the box wher he loses possession. The ball is knocked clear but David Luiz mops up and chips a lovely pass yo Aubameyang in the box. Pereira thinks he's offside - he wasn't- but is diligent enough to play to the whistle and block it out for a corner.
60 min
First Leicester substitution: Demarai Gray replaces Ayoze Perez.
59 min
A lull for a couple of minutes until a smart move down the right between Tielemans and Pereira allows the latter to beat Holding before scooping his cross down Leno's throat.
56 min
And Evans is booked for a scything foul in the build-up. The pass to Aubameyang was by Ozil not Lacazette, apologies.
VAR check for an Arsenal goal
Aubameyang puts the ball into the net from 18 yards with a fine shot from a left-wing cross but had been in front of his strike partner when the ball was played. No goal.
54 min
Maddison can;t believe he isn't awarded a free-kick when Holding challenges him from behind. Good decision from the ref because Maddison clearly made a meal of nothing. As he protested Arsenal break and Beleerin glides forward as the defence jockeyed backwards, letting him shoot from 25 yards. The ball swerves crazily in to out and soars over the bar.
53 min
Ndidi wins successive challenges against Torreira and Lacazette, the first with quick feet, the second with sheer force.
51 min
Arsenal try to break from the rebound but lose a challenge again and back come Leicester, handing Arsenal a reprieve when Maddision balloons a shot over the bar.
49 min
And invite danger down the right when Pereira skins Torreira down the Leicester right and picks out Ndidi with a pass. He meets it with a left-foot shot to the left of the spot and steers it on to the bar as if he were trying to pick his spot.
48 min
Ndidi makes a good run off Torreira who has been sticking pretty close to him but Guendouzi steps in. But back come Leicester. Arsenal simply can't hang on to the ball. They keep giving the ball back.
46 min
As you were. No changes at the break. . Maddison is awarded a free-kick for a brush of a hand on his shoulder in contrast to the penalty Soyuncu should have had for a blatant tug.
Half time
It's very wet and cold and there have been too many mistimed sliding tackles but it has been an entertaining game with Arsenal looking typically vulnerable down the flanks if more solid, by virtue of the formation, through the middle. Leicester are finding Aubameyang, Lacazette and Ozil a proper handful and look more taxed at the back than they have been for a while. Were I an Arsenal fan I would fear a mistake from a defender bringing the ball out and trying to dribble past a Leicester midfielder. Three times they have been dispossessed so far in that manner and need to play an earlier pass. Otherwise they will be complicit in their own downfall.
45 min
Left-wing cross from Chilwell finds Barnes's near post run. He wasn't expecting it and completely mistimed the header, allowing it to hit the left side of his head which diverted it out by the corne flag, instead of a snide little glancer across goal.
44 min
Ndidi is livid that Lacazette, who was crouching to shield the ball, folded like an accordion when he jostled him from behind. Free-kick to Arsenal inspires a tirade from Ndidi.
42 min
Maddison takes it, five yards infield from the left right-angle of the box. He bends a crisp right-foot shot on to the roof of the goal.
41 min
Torreira slides in to challenge Maddison and the wet pitch plus the rashness of the challenge sends him into Maddison's heels studs first. Free-kick and a lecture.
38 min
Arsenal break quickly and Lacazette's pace frightens Soyuncu enough for him to back off and create the space for Bellerin to shoot that strikes the centre-back and threatens to dip under the bar but skims the top of the net instead. Corner, defended without drama.
35 min
Chambers again to the rescue, getting involved on the right of the back-three to disrupt the Vardy-Tielemans-Chilwell triangle and deflect the left-back's cross behind. Corner, met by on the half-volley by Tielemans but he rakes it across goal where it strikes Ndidi in an offside position.
33 min
Another overhit pass exposes Bellerin on the right and he has to let it out for a throw-in. Leicester switch it to the other flank rapidly, Perez burns between Holding and Kolasinac to whip a bouncing cross through the six-yard box. Vardy arrives at the far post for the tap-on but somehow Chambers manages to slide in and a) either put him off or b) tickle it with a toenail just out of his reach. Either way it was a vital intervention whether he touched it or not.
32 min
Tielemans plays a one-two with Barnes, gallops into Arsenal's half and, as the defence melts away into retreat, accepts the invitation to shoot from 30 yards, leans back and balloons it into the crowd.
31 min
Guendouzi follows Holding and Bellerin in losing the ball on halfway when gamboling forward, inviting Leicester to break in numbers and at pace but their lack of precision in the release pass lets Arsenal off the hook.
29 min
Until they slide a ball down the outside of Holding, the left-sided centre-back, for Perez. He spins Kolasinac and falls over his leg. No penalty - Kolasinac got his toe to the ball.
27 min
Ozil is having a spell on the left with Lacazette through the middle and Arsenal's new captain on the right. Leicester are trying to entice Arsenal to lose their shape but they stay compact.
25 min
The Arsenal fans are in good voice. But go quiet when Bellerin plays a hospital pass to David Luiz across the 18-yard line and Perez latches on to it and thrashes a shot from just outside the box that flashes past the goal, high, wide and hideous.
22 min
Barnes catches Torreira's heel after losing the ball and concedes a free-kick that Arsenal try to play out from the back. Holding Bambis his way forward and loses the ball on halfway. Leicester race forward through Vardy down the right and he squares it through the box, looking for Perez but it goes behind his run and Bellerin mops up.
20 min
Shot by Lacazette cutting in from the left with his right turns into a power pea-roller that Schmeichel smothers. Remarkably open this game so far. Tons of space for Leicester behind the wing-backs, particularly Kolasinac. Arsenal's quick passing from the apex of midfield with the two forwards split is causing Leicester similar problems.
17 min
Tielemans takes a throw down the right quickly and surprises Arsenal. Perrez takes it on to the byline and centres for Vardy. Chambers runs across on his blindside to welly it clear.
VAR says no penalty! ��
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14 min
Excellent move by Arsenal sparked by Torreira's winning challenge. He plays the ball out to the right to Bellerin on the overlap who plays a one-two with Aubameyang who takes the return and tacks across goal. Ndidi slides in to tackle, misses and the ball seems to strike his hand but there's no whistle and it is deflected across goal to the left of the box where Lacazette is poised to shoot. He tries to bend it in at the far post as Evans dives in to block and steers it the wrong side of the post.
13 min
Arsenal look very shaky at the back. Nothing new here yet.
VAR check for a penalty?
Guendouzi did wrap his arm around Soyuncu's shoulder to bring him down when the ball was crossed in from the free-kick... but the VAR ref refused to intervene. No sense or nonsense? Go home VAR for good. You're drunk.
11 min
Torreira snaps into a late challenge on Maddison and concedes a free-kick on the left, 25 yards out.
9 min
Tielemans spies the Vardy run down the inside-left channel and, uncharacteristically, overhits his threaded pass. Out races Leno to gobble it up gratefully.
8 min
Leno races off his line to thwart Leicester's rapid counter but at the price of a corner which he plucks out of the air when Maddison bends it too close to him.
7 min
Quick thrust from Arsenal up the right from Aubameyang who roars past Chilwell and fires in a near post cross that Ozil dummies with a hurdle and Lacazette fizzes past the post. Up goes the flag, late, for offside.
5 min
Tielemans bends in a right-foot cross towards the edge of the six-yard box from the right, 35 yards out, the ball more vertical than horizontal. Vardy spins David Luiz and knees it tamely close to Leno.
3 min
Maddison has his heel clipped by Lacazette who has split to the right of the front three on halfway. Leicester play it forward patiently and bring it back and forth looking for an opening, enjoying a minute's possession until Ozil (!) and Torreira hound Ndidi into misplacing his pass.
2 min
Evans and Soyuncu play it about calmly at the back, pass it back to Schmeichel when pressed. He dribbles forward and skews a pass under no pressure at all into touch. Arsenal throw 20 yards into the City half.
1 min
Ozil is pushed high, almost as a nine without the false designation. Looks like a formation that allows Emery to pick his best players.
Remembrance commemoration begins
With the Last Post. This is the 'official Remembrance fixture'.
Brendan Rodgers speaks
We’re going to have to be what we’ve been for most of the season: concentrated. We have to defend well as a team and show our qualities when we have the ball, and play with speed and with the combinations that we have been. We’re under no illusions, it’ll be a tough game for us.
Unai Emery speaks
... briefly.
We want to use our players and impose our idea and quality. This match is very important for us. We need to show confidence.
Pig of a night in Leicester
Hence the gloves and improvised snoods:
At stake
Victory for Leicester would propel them up to second; a win for Arsenal would allow them to rise above Sheffield United to fifth.
Check out Tony Adams' scarf on Sky Sports. Magnificent. It looks like a stick of blackcurrant and cream rock.
Hector Bellerin
Makes his first PL start for 11 months after rupturing an ACL. What's he been up to in the meantime bar rehab you ask. Well, here's a taster:
�� "We're killing forests because we want more money, but if there's no earth there's no money to spend!" ��@HectorBellerin - climate change warrior ����
Our special @Arsenal podcast with @bbcsport_david and @NickBrightDJ ��
��⚽ https://t.co/j4nhp1BoYxpic.twitter.com/f5VpX6qu7t— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) August 8, 2019
Whither Xhaka?
Sam Deanreports:
Unai Emery has said he does not know if Granit Xhaka will ever play for Arsenal again as he revealed there have been discussions with the club hierarchy about selling the midfielder in January.
Xhaka was stripped of the captain’s armband this week and will once again be left out of the Arsenal squad for Saturday’s crucial meeting with Leicester City after he said he is still not willing to play for the club.
Emery said the fallout over the Xhaka situation, which started when the midfielder reacted angrily to being booed by his own supporters last month, has “not helped” the team’s performances on the pitch.
Emery added that Arsenal are weaker without Xhaka but said the Swiss international needs to be mentally ready to “defend the Arsenal shirt” before he can return to the side. The Leicester match will be Arsenal’s fourth consecutive game without Xhaka.
“As a coach I have a responsibility for the team,” said Emery. “We need a player like Xhaka. But also I don’t know if he is going to play again.
“I don’t know, because if he is available in his mind to continue helping us and continue defending the Arsenal shirt, I think time is giving us that solution.”
For those of you watching in black and white
Leicester City Schmeichel, Ricardo Pereira, Evans, Soyuncu, Chilwell; Ndidi; Perez, Tielemans, Maddison, Barnes; Vardy.
Substitutes Ward, Justin, Morgan, Albrighton, Choudhury, Praet, Gray.
Arsenal; Leno; Chambers, David Luiz, Holding , Bellerin, Torreira, Guendouzi, Kolasinac; Ozil; Lacazette, Aubameyang.
Substitutes Martinez, Tierney, Papastathopoulos, Pepe, Willock, Martinelli, Saka.
Referee Chris Kavanagh (Manchester).
Leicester are unchanged
It's time to announce our #LeiArs team news, sponsored by @eToro ��
— Leicester City (@LCFC) November 9, 2019
Arsenal go for 3-4-1-2
�� Today's team news...
���� @HectorBellerin starts in the @PremierLeague
���� @LacazetteAlex partners @Aubameyang7 in attack
���� @MesutOzil1088 also named in starting XI
#️⃣ #LEIARS— Arsenal (@Arsenal) November 9, 2019
Good evening
Leicester are unbeaten at home against Arsenal since they went down 2-5 during their title-winning season, their only home defeat during that romantic blur of bliss in 2015-16. And they're overwhelming favourites not only to maintain that run but beat Arsenal this evening as, despite their quality up front, Unai Emery's midfield and defence continue to creak as an absence of character and cohesiveness (and class) continue to hobble them.
Leicester brushed them aside 3-0 in April when Ashley Maitland-Niles was sent off in the first half and the magnificent Ricardo Pereira made hay. Brendan Rodgers, who oversaw that victory, as well as Swansea's 3-2 home win over Arsenal in 2012, has been linked this week with succeeding Emery, a move Arsenal could have instituted in the summer of 2018 but decided not to, presumably in fear of triggering the ire of fans who have lost faith with the strategy of the club since Stan Kroenke bought into it.
Rodgers rubbished the speculation in fine humblebrag style: "People link me, at times, to top clubs," he said. "I'm already in a top job." Indeed he is and, with 12 victories and four draws from his 21 matches in charge, is making an impressive fist of it. No one struggles to discern Leicester's identity or cohesion since he replaced Claude Puel.
But if Arsenal can withstand Leicester's initial attacking waves and their midfielders retain some positional discipline and sit on James Maddison and the excellent Kieran Tierney pushes Ayoze Perez backwards, they could find some space. Emery is no tactical mug as he proved consistently with Sevilla despite appearing dogmatic since his move to the Emirates. He used three at the back against Guimaraes and 4-3-1-2 with Ozil's return against Wolves. Either would probably benefit them more than the stock 4-2-3-1 today.
