Result: Leicester City 0 – 1 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 25 Feb 2023
Venue: The King Power Stadium
Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Jorginho, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Trossard
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Tomiyasu, Kiwior, Holding, Smith Rowe, Vieira, Partey, Nketiah
Arsenal won 0-1 at Leicester City in challenging circumstances. Arsenal weren’t in their best groove but managed to score through Martinelli immediately after the break.
The margins could have been bigger if not for 2 VAR decision in the first half – ruling out a goal due to a White foul and also missing out a clear and obvious penalty call for a foul on Saka.
Nonetheless, Arsenal extended their lead at the top with a valuable 3 points.
Pre-Match
Keen to start a winning streak after the euphoric victory over Aston Villa, Arteta named an almost unchanged side for the away game to Leicester City.
Passing metronome, Jorginho, retained his place as Partey was only fit enough to make the bench. The only change came in attack with Trossard leading the line in place of a rested Nketiah. Martinelli slotted into the left side of the front three.
Zinchenko captains the team.
First Half
The Gunners were confident in possession right from the off but were very patient in their build up as Trossard flitted across the front line and exchanged positions with Martinelli on the left.
Xhaka, Jorginho and Zinchenko kept the game ticking in midfield with accurate one touch passes through the press. However, Leicester’s compact shape made it challenging for the team to land a killer blow.
As killer blows go, Trossard dealt a beautiful one on 26 minutes with a curler into the top corner from outside the box. The ball reached him after Ward punched the ball away during a corner kick. Shame it got overturned due to a VAR call, which saw White impede Ward in the lead up to the goal.
A good call by VAR but the same video referees were nowhere to be found when Saka got pulled down in the box by Souttar just minutes later.
Arsenal continued to toil through the rest of the first half as Leicester remained compact and looked to hit the away side on the break. The Gunners needed to play more quickly in the final third but the good news was that they had options on the bench who could change the pace of the game.
Second Half
A change of pace – a prophetic statement which led to Arsenal’s quickfire goal straight out of the break.
Gabriel’s clearance launched a counter attack for Trossard to pounce on. From the left, the Belgian released Martinelli into the left half space to slot the ball low into the far post. 0-1 Arsenal
Arsenal continued turning the screw with two close offside calls negating a Saka goal and Gabriel header. The game opened up on the 70th minute mark as passes went astray, balls went longer and tackles flew.
There was a sense of chaos and tension, prompting Arteta to put Nketiah on for Trossard to poach for opportunities with space opening up. Leicester also put on Vardy and Daka to put more pressure for a goal.
Partey on for Odegaard in the last few mins set the tone – it was all about possession and solidity.
In the end, Arsenal rode out the storm at the King Power to remain top of the league table.
Important win. The PGMOL did everything to try and stop us, but the result stands this time.
Should have been at least 2 nil…
How does VAR not rule that a foul on Saka immediately after the ruled out goal. And we get no replay of the offside lines!? This is a fucking scam. We gotta do so much more than any other team. This team continues to defy!!
It is indeed a scam. And it has been happening – Arsene knows all about this – long before the VAR technology came along.
VAR is only as good as those using it, and if those using it are corrupt, then it needs new people operating it.
Exactly. It’s a tool to cover corruption through the image of having video “impartiality”.
We don’t need new people operating it. It needs to be scrapped
Looked just onside from my sofa angle
I really hope someone on Twitter draws those lines. I don’t even care if it’s onside. Why isn’t it shown!? It’s just fucking cheating.
Yeah, they should have shown them. I did think it was offside, though. And Ben White grabbed their GK’s hand, or he’d have gone up with both hands and caught the ball. Players should know that VAR is going to catch that now. Before, he may have gotten away with it. Shame–it was a fabulous strike from Trossard.
And the penalty shout on Saka?
It often seems like they don’t like being criticised. Just do your job ffs
The anti Arsenal agenda continues…..
Get in there!
Remember that time David Luiz got sent off for breathing on the back of a wolves player? Then seeing Saka not get a penalty for literally being hauled down is madness
We and Saka are reffed differently. I am NOT going to believe otherwise.
Put Kane or a Man U player in place of Saka there and that would be a penalty without even going to VAR. Fuck the refs in this country. Disgusting lot.
Without doubt. They’d probably give hairy kunt two penalties for that
Kane in that situation could have dragged the defender down, and still win a penalty
And they would have ignored the lazy fuck being offside too.
The commentators in the US kept going on about how Saka’s style invites fouls because he’s so good. That may be true but they should still be called. It’s maddening to watch.
I’ll never forget the crystal palace one last season, when some guy wearing their shirt went right through the back of him. Maybe he’s gotta get Eduardo’d to win a free kick
Ain’t that why they say Grealish gets so many free kicks?
Thank fuck the officials couldn’t find a way to disallow the goal we scored.
Make no mistake, it wasn’t for the want of trying!
They probably checked to see if Martinelli’s knee initiated contact with the Leiceister player
They were probably wondering if Trossard’s nutmeg counted as unsportsmanlike conduct.
Martinelli did knee Ndidi’s studs.
We are a team very capable of winning the league. George and Trossard are good buys. COYG!
Jorginho’s passes are just outrageous.
That seems to be his super power.
He’s not as athletic as Partey but otherwise seems pretty similar. Better passer even.
He’s a great passer, but he’s scary against counters. Slow and gambles on interceptions. Get partey back ASAP.
True but we seem to be coping. Gabriel and Saliba are fast.
It’s not something you want happening regularly. More efficient teams punish that. TP is so key to this team. Can’t wait to have him back.
Trossard especially is 100% what we needed as someone who can literally play all three front positions and brings something different than we have to each of them. What a masterful buy, I really think there’s a chance we look back at the end of the season and are grateful we got him instead of Mudryk
I’m grateful now.
Me too!
Seriously love the guy!
No doubt Ebo. A couple colleagues who support Chelsea say Mudryk had a great 30 minutes in his first match and has been woeful since then. They say he set some sort of PL record the other day for the most times losing possession in a match
Yeah, I always liked Trossard and wished we had him. He really fits Arteta’s style. He must love how he has so many forward passing options with us rather than having to carry the ball so much. He’s really clicking with our other attacking players.
Almost seems like we chucked a few big bids around then signed the players we really wanted for peanuts
Did it to Manure in the summer too with Martinez/Zinchenko situation.
Who was the VAR ref? Does anyone know?
Some cunt
Cunty McCuntface
So that’s what John Terry is doing these days. I did wonder.
Would explain a lot
Hahaha – beat me to it!! 😂
Whoever it was Hitler was at his elbow. The PGMOL loves Hitler!
It’s also been said that Hitler LOVES the PGMOL. He’s really impressed by their sense of non accountability.
Jarred Gillet apparently. If I’m not mistaken, I think he was in VAR when that goal was disallowed for no good reason a couple of seasons ago against Palace, denying us a win. Same old same old. I’m sick of it.
You sure it’s not Gilles de Rais? Because he’s the perfect candidate for the PGMOL.
Disallowing Trossard’s goal was a joke. Ward is a poor goalkeeper.
Correct decision imo. We would be screaming if it was Ramsdale.
Correct decision but a good try from White. I liked it
White should not have done that in the VAR world.
It’s worth a try when VAR have missed much more obvious things, like clear offsides and penalties
Sure, but had he not, Ward would have gathered easily. Call it defending from the front!
It was technically correct, but it’s blatantly unfair to call that after scouring video replay, but then to NOT call the much more obvious foul on Saka a few minutes later. Either call both or neither.
If the on field ref gave it as a foul I’d be more understanding, but them reviewing it and then overturning it meant it was classed as a “clear and obvious error”. I’ve seen far more clear and obvious errors been allowed to stand since VAR was introduced.
It was Ramsdale earlier in the season against Villa and the same ref let it stand.
But it would not have been disallowed……
I mean it’s a foul, but you can bet your sweet arse that VAR doesn’t “find” that on the other end.
Ward is a shocking goalkeeper yeah. But as a keeper myself, how are you supposed to do your job if someone has grabbed hold of your glove? It’s 100% a foul. Just unlucky that VAR actually spotted it cos it didn’t show on the first couple of replays, you just know they wouldn’t have given it a thorough look if it was on Ramsdale
The Saka non-penalty was a joke though
Even Richard Keys called it an obvious penalty and he hates us.
Are you watching a dodgy stream lol!
But it wasn’t clear and obvious.
I mean it was to me
But the definition of clear and obvious isn’t clear and obvious
Football always will have situations which are open to interpretation. But I think if attackers are allowed to intentionally hold and block keepers trying to deal with a cross/make a save, then that’s a very easy thing to exploit – throwing off the balance of the game and making corners way overpowered for how easy they are to win
The refs and EPL hate arsenal and do their best to deny arsenal a deserved win, thankfully they were unable to do so!! 11 arsenal players v 15!!!
Good gritty performance with some lovely football. Final ball was missing at times but Arsenal scored 3 good goals and had a blatant penalty denied so it’s pretty fair to say they were good value. Trossard’s nutmeg assist for the goal was a thing of beauty. Some of the officiating today was utterly bizarre but i think we all know they are bent now. How VAR disallow that first goal is beyond me…I’ve never seen that before. I kept looking at it and thinking, have I missed something? Then there was the most blatant rugby tackle penalty you will ever… Read more »
I completely and totally agree. We’re all so used to utterly abysmal and farcical officiating but even by those atrocious standards today was just inexplicable. I think the PGMOL needs to be investigated by an independent regulator. This can’t go on.
White was clearly holding the keeper!
Was it clear? I saw the defender impeding the keeper more than white. From the replays i saw it looks like what every opposition player does to Ramsdale on a weekly basis.
He was holding his right wrist stopping him raising that arm. It was a foul. The foul on saka though, that’s something else
It was only spotted during a forensic sweep of the goal. It was a million % not a clear and obvious error by the referee
This was a very Gabriel-as-the-match-report-image type of game, and the fact we won it is testament to the man’s immensity.
Why was Zinchenko captain?
Ukraine war 1 year anniversary I think
No complaints. We’ve got a 100% win record when he captains us
Slava Ukraini!
Fancy the world virtually “celebrating” the 1st anniversary of a war that’s been going on nearly 9 years……and what’s that got to do with the premier league……
Ask Abramovich and Usmanov.
Referees are a joke in this match wth 😡😡
They’ve been a joke all season.
Their blatant bias against us is beyond contempt now – it’s laughable.
Good Job done away with a clean sheet… i love 0-1’s
Blood pressure aside
Love the 0-1’s too. But it’s rough on the heart.
Well done boys. Another thoroughly deserved three points.
It seems that we have to stick the ball in the back of the net four or five times now for those VAR cunts to allow one to stand.
The agenda against us continues.
But so does our resolve, our fight and our spirit.
Good for Martinelli to get back amongstg the goals. Yes, I deliberately meant that in the plural sense.
COYG
A good result – sometimes you just need to grind them out.
Next five games we have only one is away – to Fulham.
An opportunity to get a run together again..
All the other 4 teams are in the bottom half, good news!
Our home games don’t give me much confidence. Visiting teams tend to sit deep and we struggle to break them down, coupled with us never keeping a clean sheet at home.
Hope we can secure all 15 points.
The only goal they allowed to stand was played beautifully. Great long ball by Gabriel, then a nutmeg pass from Trossard, followed by the perfect finish by Martinelli.
I hope those 3 great plays don’t get lost in the post-game analysis, just a great team play for the goal.
Don’t see how the VAR did well on trossards goal. It’s never a foul. White didn’t grab his hand, wards arm was under him as white challenged him in the air. Ward also got a successful punch off with the arm he always intended to punch with and that fell outside the box. Not like trossard was in a position next to the keeper.
Sorry, but Ward would not have punched had White allowed him the use of his arm. Clear foul with VAR, but White would have gotten away with it without VAR. I don’t understand why the foul on Saka was waved away so easily. Maybe they thought the ball wasn’t delivered close enough to make a difference. In the middle of the pitch, that’s a foul.
It was vintage Benny Blanco shithousery. It’s why we love him so much but let’s be fair and admit that we’d have lost our shit had it been done to us. On this day Benny did not get away with it.
Moving forward, I would like to see that front 3 a few more times, until Jesus is fully fit. Not bashing Eddie, just feel like Leandro offers more.
Now let’s beat Everton on Wednesday.
Come On Bournemouth!
It’s already 0-4 City.
Having Trossard makes it possible to rotate. Eddie does offer more in the middle, I think, with his vertical leap and poaching ability. But he can’t play every minute of every game. Trossard is vital cover for Martinelli too.
Is anyone else surprised that Tierney wasn’t put in for Zinchenko instead of Tomi?
Na he’s shocking and was useless when he came on, offside and losing possession, not on the wavelength. At least the precedent has been set that the others have been played through the middle. Eddie for europa matches hopefully bag a few and go to Newcastle for 30+ mill
Two negatives from this match, we’re a bit inefficient today, should have killed the game earlier on and PGMOL show they’re at best incompetent. But we’re playing beautiful fotball,the passes and movements im this team are like art. Just don’t let our guard down in midweek against Everton
Final score: PGMOL 0, Arsenal 1.
By this point, given that they are unprofessional, incompetent , or corrupt, shouldn’t they just rebrand to UGMOL, IGMOL, or CGMOL?
That match report in full:
🎶One nil to the Arsenal
One nil to the Arsenal
One nil to the Arsenal
One nil to the Arsenal 🎶
Anyone notice 3 minutes for find a reason to disallow the goal, 2 fucking minutes added time?
3 Points
Trossard
Jorginho
Squad Depth , Nice 😏
Fuck VAR