David Luiz, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe found the net as Arsenal beat Leicester 3-1 at the King Power Stadium in Leicester, in their Premier League clash.
Leicester were coming into this game after a disappointing result in the midweek that saw them crash out of the UEFA Europa League as Arsenal completed a thrilling comeback in the same competition to secure their place in the last 16 of the competition.
The Foxes struggled against the Gunners after a promising start to the game with Belgian star Youri Tielemans opening the scoring in the 6th minute after the Arsenal defence failed to close him down. They allowed him acres of space to drift into before finishing with a neat low shot to beat German goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Drama followed soon after as Youri Tielemans almost turned culprit just 6 minutes later after he tripped the Ivorian, Nicolas Pepe at the edge of the box, which was originally adjudged a penalty. Thanks to the VAR, this was rectified as it was just outside the box.
The game became very cagey for almost the next half hour before Brazilian David Luiz, headed in the equaliser for Mikel Arteta’s side. It was a wonderful diving header by the central defender who lost his marker to head home from fellow Brazilian, Willian’s corner kick.
Arsenal started stamping their authority and looked threating. In the first minute of stoppage time in the first half, Leicester gave away a penalty to the North London side as Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi gave away a silly penalty for handling the ball off Pepe’s shot.
Alex Lacazette scores against Leicester city. (Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)
Alex Lacazette sent the Foxes captain Kasper Schmeichel the wrong way to calmly drill the ball into the net to give Arsenal a much deserved lead just before half time.
Not much changed in the second half as things went from bad to worse for the home side. The in-form Harvey Barnes had to be stretchered off the pitch, which meant the onus was on Jamie Vardy and Youri Tielemans to create something for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
But Arsenal kept coming at them and Nicolas Pepe made it 3-1 after a fantastic counter attack by Arteta’s team. Pepe’s goal was much deserved as he put in a man-of-the-match type of performance.
This win has taken Arsenal to 37 points as they leap-frogged Leeds United to now move into 10th place in the league. As for Leicester, the loss meant that they will stay in 3rd as West Ham United failed to pick up points after their loss to Manchester City.
Leicester will be hoping to avoid a slump they had during this same period last season that eventually saw them miss out on Champions League football. Early signs are not looking good for Brendan Rodgers’ men but they are definitely capable of turning things around.
The 2015-16 Premier League champions play 15th place Burnley at Turf Moor on Wednesday, next and anything less than 3 points will be considered failure for the Foxes. Arsenal also travel to Burnley next on Saturday in the Premier League.
