Result: Arsenal 4 – 2 Leiceister City
Competition: Premier League
Date: 13 August 2022
Venue: The Emirates Stadium
Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka, Jesus
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Tomiyasu, Holding, Elneny, Lokonga, Smith Rowe, Pepe, Nketiah
The first league match at home was a goal fest as Arsenal won 4-2. The Gunners showed slick movement and passing with 4 excellent goals but would also be disappointed conceding 2 goals.
Jesus caught the headlines with 2 goals in the first half but an own goal by Saliba halved the lead early in the second half. A Maddison strike sandwiched goals by Xhaka and Martinelli as fans were treated to an exciting exhibition of attacking play.
Pre-Match
Arteta named an unchanged side from the Crystal Palace match for the Gunners’ first home game of the season.
The return of Smith Rowe and Tomiyasu on the bench strengthened the team as Arsenal attempted to claim their second win in two weeks.
First Half
A very hot afternoon at the Emirates played host to a strong start by both Arsenal and Leicester City. The teams were lively with their movement but also stayed organised as they felt each other out on the pitch.
Jesus and Martinelli stood out for their energy and were a handful for the opposing defence. The latter was a menace to Fofana in the opening minutes with his direct dribbling, earning the defender a yellow as he pulled the Brazillian back down the left.
The Arsenal left side also posed problems to the team in blue. In possession, Zinchenko took up the inside left channel of the midfield area, allowing Xhaka to drift from left midfield to pop up in central attacking areas. Xhaka’s movement surprised Leicester as he continually appeared in the box to support the forwards.
The Swiss had an attempt at the back post ricochet off the post but his next touch in the box was a feathered lay off for Jesus who nonchalantly chipped the ball over the head of Danny Ward to move Arsenal ahead at home. 1-0 Arsenal
If the first goal showed Jesus’ technical skill, his second was a display of his poacher’s instincts. Martinelli floated in a corner which was flicked on at the near post. The change in the ball’s trajectory caused some confusion but Jesus was sharper than most. He was at the back post to receive and head in unopposed to double his tally for the day. 2-0 Arsenal
The goals breathed even more life into the team, with Jesus especially dangerous as the spearhead of the attack. The striker could have had a couple more goals if not for Ward saving Leicester’s skin in goal.
The Foxes reminded Arsenal of their counter attacking prowess with Vardy an outball for the away team. Arsenal was almost victim to such a counter at the end of the half as Leicester released Vardy down the inside right channel. Ramsdale came out to intercept and looked to have knocked into the wily old fox. For once, VAR did its job to overturn the penalty decision as contact looked minimal.
Arsenal deserved their lead. Their free flowing movement and intensity penned back a decent Leicester side with Jesus the standout player.
Second Half
Leiceister pushed up high after the break to find a breakthrough but the Gunners were resolute in cutting out the passing lanes and in winning their duels. However, all it took was a mistake to bring Leicester back into the game. Evans lofted a long pass into the penalty box and Saliba intercepted the ball with a header as he ran back towards his goal.
However, Saliba couldn’t get his angle right and the ball sneaked past Ramsdale for an own goal. 2-1 Leicester
Arsenal didn’t have to wait long to restore their 2 goal lead. It was Leicester’s time to make a mistake as Ward spilled a simple ball into the feet of Jesus. The skirmish found Xhaka, making one of many good runs into the box during the game, who rifled the ball home. 3-1 Arsenal
The Gunners were not out of the woods yet. Maddison was central to Leicester’s improved possession and dictated the play for the Foxes from deep. His run up the right surprised Arsenal and his shot from an acute angle caught Ramsdale out. The ball zipped between Ramdale’s legs to make it 3-2 Leicester
Again, Arsenal responded immediately. The home side countered quickly and found Martinelli on the left hand side, just outside the box. He striked the ball with his left foot, driving the ball low and across goal to make it 4-2 Arsenal
It could have been 5-2 with a Jesus hattrick but the Brazillian would regret missing an open chance with his left foot 10 minutes from time. Jesus and Saka made way at the end for Nketiah and Smith Rowe to keep the tempo up.
Towards the final minutes, Partey hit the post and Nketiah drew a couple of good saves from Ward. The match ended 4-2 with the attacking display a positive though Arteta might have a word about defensive solidity in some key moments.
Most importantly, Arsenal continued their perfect start to the season.
Great win and hard to choose between Jesus and Martinelli for MoTM. No to Tielemans in this showing though.
Great win , great day. Saliba great guy. Arsenal great club.
It is how you bounce back from mistakes and Saliba carried on with confidence. Brilliant.
Saliba had a billion in the bank. Mustafi watching and jealous.
Loved the crowd’s response after he conceded the own goal. It’s so important that we show the players we are 100% behind them.
Tielemans may have been distracted by the beauty of his future teammates.
He’ll be a great option from the bench.
His priced dropped another £10m today 🫠
“Youri Tielemans, we’ll see you next week”
He was just busy making sure we get him at a bargain price
Great chant when Tielemans came off “ we’ll see u next week!”. He didn’t want his future team dropping any points 😉
True, but I don’t see him as better than Granit and ESR is better too.
Tielemans is a quality player – who needs a quality team to play in.
I say we still need to sign him. He’s an immediate upgrade on Elneny and Lokonga – e we rich means we are going to need him if Partey picks up a long term knock.
* which means
Saka needs a rest, and a hair cut too..why can’t he look clean like Partey or Nketiah he looks homeless but looks aside he also looks tired. And that Saliba own goal I blame Ben White for getting beat in the air we need to sort that right back situation. All our attack was from the left. Glad Tomiyasu is back
No
‘Mr Positive’ my arse!!
How dare you slander Saka’s glorious poof
😄
Change your user name.
Tielemans and Fofona probably have their heads somewhere else with talks about their future. It would be unfair to judge them based on today’s game only.
Congrats to the manager too. He made sure they are not f*cking soft this season.
Indeed. I loved how Martinelli bullied Fofana after the yellow card, trying to get him to pick up another and get sent off.
I’d mention Xhaka too. He had a hell of a game!
COYG!
Wasn’t XG just brilliant! Martineli take a bow young man. Saliba, that’s how character is built. Alos the response from the stands following OG was superb. Gabrielle is a quiet monster.
And Gabriel, Jesus what a player. Saka quietly effective is not effervescent but defenders know not to sleep on him. And my Captain, pulling those unassumingly, while Thomas kept the Partey going.
Nervy at some points but a brilliant day out. 6 out of 6. Upwards and Onwards
Get in
Great that we responded so well to conceding the two goals. In another match we wouldn’t have the unfortunate own goal and would have put other good chances away. Joint top of the league on points,a striker who can score from open play, so hopefully onwards and upwards!
The dribbling from Martinelli and Jesus means we can create something from nothing, which we were severely lacking the past season or two. Great runs in behind and plenty of players capable of picking out a good ball. There’s a lot to be excited about with this Arsenal team!
I think Jesus will raise Martinelli’s level up a notch…
I’d say he already has.
All credit to Zinc also he’s an absolute weapon.
These Brazilians we have are a rampant hardworking bunch!
I knew Jesus was good, but boy did he impress me today. All the skills you could wish for from a Brazilian forward, and the goals to go with it. Magnificent
I love it <3
The scary part is it could have easily been 6 or 7 for us and I feel Leicester were fortunate with both their goals. Martinelli and Jesus were absolutely outstanding today.
You can say they were fortunate but we still left gaps. It’s the flipside of such an intense style of play, but even in the first half there were two occasions where Leicester almost got in behind and caused problems, the first being the overturned penalty decision, and the second being that moment where Maddison volleyed the ball into White when Vardy had the freedom of our half to run into with Saliba ten yards past the halfway line. I think what it shows is that while the system is effective on putting the squeeze on opponents, it also puts… Read more »
Zinchenko being out of position is the only one of your critiques I’d lend any credence to, personally. And of course the system puts pressure on our defenders and GK – but that’s precisely why that area was Arteta’s first priority for incoming transfers, which is why we’re now stacked with quality back there who can handle that pressure. Vardy didn’t do a thing today outside of diving to try to win a cheap penalty, which was quite rightly deemed not to be one (quite miraculous given who VAR was).
Lol, so true, when they said it was Mike Dean on VAR I just assumed penalty given
I.d say Partey wasn’t at his best today, which I feel a little too often when watching us
I love Gabrielle’s celebration. “HAVE IT!”
Didn’t know Renee O’Connor was at the match!
Wow, we are absolutely flying going forward. Jesus and Martinelli were just running circles around the Leicester defence. Great game and great result!
So much to enjoy from this one! Can’t not mention Martinelli who looks like he’s going to be phenomenal this year. But my personal highlight was the huge round of applause that went up for Saliba just after he scored that own goal. Lovely to see and he was quality again from that moment on. Low point- removing Jesus as my captain on fpl and giving it to Haaland like an idiot 🤦♂️
Haha I did the same damn thing
Same, same…..
Hi, is this the “I captained Haaland over Jesus” support group? 🤦🏻♂️. Haaland only had the 8 touches while Gabby was busy getting 10/10 so I’ve learnt my lesson
Yes this is the group, doing fpl calculations in regret now
I’m the chairman of this group 😫
THIS is Arsenal.
Yes we conceded but we blew them away. This was one of our most convincing performances under Arteta.
Man of the match either martinelli or Jesus ….. but everyone else play well
2 goals for Leicester really does flatter them – we absolutely dominated them
And as for Vardy, I’ve never liked him but that dive in the first half shows how finished he is
How was he not booked is my question? It was a clear attempt to deceive the ref which would’ve worked without the technology. Can’t say I’m surprised though, Mike Dean was the VAR after all
Spot on.
And like you say – Mike fucking Dean…..
Just phoned the other half: she was watching Gillette Soccer Special and told me that when ‘Unbelievable Jeff’ actually praised Mike Dean, all the lads on the panel groaned. I bet Merse groaned the loudest!
C’mon bro take her indoors to the match with you next time!
Haha – we have been there and done all that, my friend. When I first started seeing my beautiful Jenny, I was a North Bank season ticket holder and she was from a family of Spurs fans, although she wasn’t really into football at all – and who could blame her….? Not only did I convince her to come and stand on the North Bank with me, but after the Littlewoods Cup Final win of ‘87, she walked out of Wembley with me declaring herself a Gooner. Probably to stop me from teasing her about Rockey’s last minute goal in… Read more »
A beautiful love story my friend. Love to you all.
Thank you!
😊👍
He really is a cheating little plague rat. Puts a smile on my face knowing he has to go back home to that awful wife of his after every match.
At least he’s not going home to Coleen, who’s even worse.
So much for people thinking Tielemans immediately benches Xhaka.
Xhaka to score 10+ goals this year?
Xhaka playing that Gundogan role!
The singing in our section was that Xhaka scores when he wants
xhaka to allow his teammates to go up confidently and score +10 goals this years
Put Xhaka in that Leicester team, against Arsenal in this form and see how well he does. It’s too easy to compare the two on this one performance, even Messi hasn’t looked like Messi in Barca.
Yes Xhaka did have a good game though
Agree with this. Tielemans is great, Arsenal just dominated, I’m guessing we haven’t bought him as he plays on the right, I still think we should buy him anyway though.
You probably mean Messi in Paris- just 6 goals in Ligue 1 last season admittedly under trophy Dodger Poch.
Looking better last week under new management, watch his overhead kick if you haven’t seen it yet.
Xhaka did pretty well against the mighty france for Swiss.
He was unbelievable that night. Always a great riposte to refer his critics to that game, outshone all the much fancied French players
Let’s face it TB, no matter what Xhaka does, you will stick to your script.
Did you actually analyze GX and YT’s individual performances? And haven’t you been judging GX all these years when he was playing on a dysfunctional team?
I think Xhaka would still start if we’d get Tielemans. But the competition would be great, I think it would really keep Xhaka on his toes and increase his focus/concentration (which I think can be his main weakness at points). Tielemans would also be a great squad/depth option in any case, we’ll need more players with Europa League
I think his focus/concentration is very good, that’s part of what makes him a team leader.
I think he has 3 main weaknesses where we have been using him previously.
1) He’s a bit too slow to operate consistently in a defensive recovery role
2) He is not a consistent ball carrier
3) He cares too much and steps over the line when stressed particularly when performing the defensive role – I think he has also been a bit unlucky with outcomes for his mistakes i.e. he has paid to the max
The current role suits him much better
wonderful win. seeing partey and xhaka that far forward was fun to watch aswell.
I have never seen such support after an own goal was scored. That just shows you were the fans are at with this club. COYG!
Just thinking back to Wengers last couple of seasons and I was thinking of packing my season ticket in. The atmosphere was toxic. Fans turning on each other. Look at it now- even the early Arteta out group are on board this Arsenal love train. Trust the process.
Well that was fun. Can’t believe Jesus failed to turn those chances after his goals into a hattrick, otherwise top top performance from him, I think he was involved in all the four goals today.
Shout out to Saliba as well, could rather see him score against us compared to “that guy”. Think the crowd cheered him on after it happened which was total class, loved that.
COYG!
Yep two goals, two assists.
I love Jesus
Jesus loves you.
Hahaha
Fucking brilliant.
Ramsdale, calm down a bit mate.
Fans after Saliba OG were superb….
Martinelli is was MOTM for me 🔥
Martinelli was absolutely amazing, but Jesus did score or assist in each of the 4 goals…
YEah….fair enough ! 🤣
Xhaka redemption arc complete?
He was great today – deserved his goal.
He had a great game, and so did most of the team. I hope he stays consistent and helps us get top 4 but let’s not get carried away yet.
He lost the ball on their first goal but otherwise was v good. Playing in front of a strong defence definitely helps him.
Playing next to Zinchenko has really helped Xhaka I think.
Well done boys. A very hot day, that would have been difficult to sustain in terms of energy and pace. Jesus, absolutely sublime. I’ve backed this lad for 20+ this season and guess what? I still stand by it! ‘Not a natural goal scorer’, eh, Minty…?? 😂 Yeah, there were one or two mistakes at the back, but you get the feeling that this team are still gelling and didn’t get out of second gear today – and we still won 4-2. I’ll take that. Now for a nice drive home – minus the classified football scores on 5 Live.… Read more »
I will happily be proven wrong on that! So far he looks outstanding.
Salina was a rock after the mistake it never phased him. Couldn’t believe Reilly told the ref to look at the incident for the penalty again after years of posinous decisions against us.
Great win and great to see tge strength on the bench.
He reverted to his old self by denying Jesus a clear penalty.
Can’t believe VAR didn’t give a penalty to Jesus. Clear and obvious error..
I heard Riley’s name and thought “it’s a penalty for sure”.
Mike Riley is still a cunt
He always has been and always will be.
I fxking love this team. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Wasn’t XG just brilliant! Martineli take a bow young man. Saliba, that’s how character is built. Alos the response from the stands following OG was superb. Gabrielle is a quiet monster.
And Gabriel, Jesus what a player. Saka quietly effective is not effervescent but defenders know not to sleep on him. And my Captain, pulling those unassumingly, while Thomas kept the Partey going.
Nervy at some points but a brilliant day out. 6 out of 6.
It’s yet to click for martinelli, Odegaard and saka. There’s so much potential still.
William Saliba still hasn’t put a *foot wrong.
I get what you are saying!!
Yes we won .. Nice effort from the boys. Gabriel J Xhaka Saliba Martinelli… Fantastic.. But please y’all should hear me out. We need to UPGRADE on xhaka; he had a fine game, don’t get me wrong, but If u really focus on the game….u will see many times when he in particular destroys our attack by simply playing the wrong pass or too slow to pass it. Or can’t simply drive into space because of his non athleticism. One time he was played through on Goal , but itwas ruined cos of his athleticism. Those moments I begin to… Read more »
This…is embarrassing.
🤣🤣lol.
We will see in a few weeks
Dude, we won, and you’re not the oracle ✌🏼
sooo much
I agree Arsenal would be at another level with a more skilful player playing in the more advanced role Xhaka now occupies (can’t fault him for effort and he’s a solid player), and I also find it frustrating that Odeergard often doesn’t take shots quickly enough. We have such a good bench now would like to see some of those players sooner.
Jason and the Arseholebots at it again even when everything is rosy. Whinger out
“played in on goal”
It was another excellent movement from Xhaka but the pass was slightly over-hit by Partey, one of several over-hit passes by Partey today.
Cant even enjoy a win. Go see some professional help.
Fuckin lovely
Gabi And Jesus intensity is crazy Saka was sleeping today zero intensity in his pressing or general play I want the Saka from last season
Jķnkk2kop
Saliba and Grabriel my starting CB’s Tomi for RB Ben White is too casual for me
You hate everything, don’t you?
you have issues mate.
At 2-1 and 3-2, I wasn’t as nervous as I would be. This team now gives me confidence I’ve not had in a while.
On to the next one
It helps when we score again 1 minute later 😀
Today shows why Xhaka on his day is a much better player than Tielemans. The issue with Xhaka has always been his careless fouls/unnecessary red cards
I think that’s the Jesus we will see regularly. He will miss a few, but his all round game will really add another level.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but damned if I don’t love seeing a win like that more than a 2-0 shutout. The relentless attacking press, the resolute answering after goals were scored, the dominance showed by Saliba after the own goal scored, the DEEP defensive bench for the final 15 minutes of the match and being in the 93rd minute STILL seeking a goal. Something about this win brought me back to prime Wenger era Arsenal football. I much more prefer a win like this for the second match of the season, because it gives me a liiiiiiittle… Read more »
Really impressed by Jesus providing two assists while on a hat trick.
I take it you didn’t see the game then? 😅
Super delivery by Gabi – Lovely flick-on by vardy ( would have made Bouldsy very proud ) for GJ farpost poachers nod in – delicious exciting and eventually penalty-less vardy got hooked – the perfect day
Bergkamp was God. Thierry was King. Jesus is the 2nd coming.
This match will be remembered as the match where all our Gabriels scored!
There’s a centre-back Gabriel that didn’t.
We are struggling to control matches… Palace had more possession than us, worst part is at the time we needed more bodies in midfield arteta did nothing, elneny or lokonga earlier would ve helped alot. Today, late in second half, till Madison scored… We lost control and needed more bodies in midfield but NOT untill 80mins for arteta. Look at our last 2 possessions.. not impressive and look at how we give opposition chance to attack us for long spells. Not impressive. We need to tackle these things earlier now.. not untill one team takes advantage of all these and… Read more »
Absolutely right. That is why Arteta is going to bring in a game controller as LCM. Nobody likes me mentioning his name on this blog, so I’ll just say he’s presently on the bench at Juve.
“And they better not let me down.” Or what? My dude, this isn’t about you. No one cares about your negative takes. Life, like football isn’t perfect, but it’s the attitude of the team, the belief of the players supported by the fans that allows them to move forward with confidence and execute. Anyone can point out areas the team could improve their performance but that’s not the point. On the day, we managed the game well and demonstrated they have gears to respond when necessary, which is a significant improvement from last season when we couldn’t respond to the… Read more »
Leicester to Chelsea: We want 80 mill for Fofana.
Chelsea: You gotta be kidding.
Leicester: Well, after today, he’s got only one more league game against Martinelli.
Or two, if Chel$ki sign him.
Umm.. not if Chelsea buys him, poor man 😉
Great performances all over the pitch. I 💕 this team.
Seems like we dodged a bullet with that Martinez guy. See what Brentford is doing to United.
Have Man City got any other players they don’t want please?
Enjoyed the way the boys worked at winning the ball back quickly.
Nice win. Three points in the bag. We move.
Sssshhhhj! I think we may have a team 🤫
Jesus! What a guy!
Class
Tielemans got schooled by Xhaka and both would get schooled by someone who carries the ball. Arsenal is certainly not going to buy Tielemans so that he can play out of position (as a LCM rather than a RCM).
Arsenal has been circling the great Arthur Melo for a long time waiting for Juve to agree to a loan/option rather than a buy (Arsenal will not pay the 30 mill Juve needs to avoid a capital loss). Will happen soon.