Result: Arsenal 1-1 Leicester
Competition: Premier League
Date: 7 July 2020
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Starting lineup: Martinez, Bellerin, Mustafi, Luiz, Kolasinac, Tierney, Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
Subs: Macey, Holding, Sokratis, Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Willock, Nelson, Pepe, Nketiah
Arsenal paid the price for missing a host of chances in the first half as Leicester bounced back from a goal behind to secure a 1-1 draw at the Emirates after substitute Eddie Nketiah saw red.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s strike on 21 minutes should have been the platform for a stylish victory but poor finishing and smart keeping from Kasper Schmeichel ensured the Foxes were in touch at the break.
Brendan Rodgers’ side upped the ante in the second period and looked the more likely to score before Nketiah, after a lengthy VAR check, was given his marching orders for a late challenge on Justin James. Vardy’s equaliser with six minutes remaining felt inevitable as the Gunners fell deeper and deeper.
All in all, a frustrating night for Mikel Arteta at a rain-drenched Emirates. We go again on Sunday against Sp*rs.
Pre-game
After scoring off the bench at Wolves, Alex Lacazette was rewarded with a return to the starting lineup. The Frenchman replaced Eddie Nketiah who took up a place on the bench. Hector Bellerin was the only other change from the side that started at Molineux, the Spaniard came in for Cedric who was absent from the squad altogether. Having become a dad at the weekend, Nicolas Pepe made the bench. Matteo Guendouzi and Mesut Ozil, did not. Again.
First half
Leicester definitely had the measure of us in the first 20 minutes. They pressed well, penned us into our half and as the rain grew heavier and the pitch slicker we really struggled to keep the ball.
Vardy, who seems to score against us every time we face him, had the first effort on target, testing Martinez from the edge of the box. The Argentine claimed the ball cleanly. He’s been in fine fettle since taking over from Bernd Leno and he was called upon again on 12 minutes, this time denying Iheanacho with his feet.
Slowly but surely, we started to grow in confidence. Ceballos and Xhaka started to win more ball and new to move it quickly to the flanks where Tierney and Bellerin supported the runs of Saka and Aubameyang.
On 20 minutes, Saka and Bellerin linked well to earn a corner and when it was cleared to the edge of the box, Tierney returned it with interest, hammering a textbook half volley that stung Schmeichel’s palms. The Dane immediately sprung a counter with a massive hoof up field that Martinez swept up with his head. Suddenly the game was more stretched and we were quick to take advantage.
Ceballos threaded a defence-splitting pass inside Soyuncu that allowed Saka to spring free. One-one-one with Jonny Evans, the winger left the centre-back on the floor and laid the ball across the box for Aubameyang to tap home his 20th goal of the season. A simple goal. A lovely goal. Arteta liked it a lot. (1-0)
We then enjoyed a brilliant 10-minute spell which could have led to at least three more goals. Leicester cleared an Aubameyang cross heading for Saka. The 18-year-old was then denied by Schmeichel who got down low at his near post.
The keeper produced more heroics to twice prevent Lacazette from getting on the scoresheet. First, he produced a strong right hand to stop a low drive and then he claimed a diving header after the Frenchman had connected with a Bellerin cross.
We had the Foxes on the ropes but we couldn’t deliver a knockout blow. As if we needed a reminder of the game being on a knife-edge, Iheanacho put the ball in the back of our net only to have his volley ruled out for a foul on Kolasinac as he darted into the box. It was the right call.
The half ended with Mustafi needing treatment after Vardy’s studs caught him in the face. It looked nasty but despite looking dazed he made it to the break.
Second half
David Luiz had a busy opening seven minutes of the new half. He used his face to block a Justin effort and then tried his luck from a free-kick that had Schmeichel sprawling to tip the ball around the post.
Mustafi continued to be in the wars, falling awkwardly from a height as he rose for a corner.
Not to be outdone by Schmeichel, Martinez made another tidy stop to stop Iheanacho again. This time the Nigerian volleyed a fine, raking Vardy cross.
Rodgers threw on Barnes and Fuchs and the visitors continued to have the better of things through until the second drinks break.
Vardy might have done better when the ball dropped to him in the box but he air kicked on the spin and Lacazette had a goal correctly disallowed for offside after he diverted a Luiz header from a corner into the net.
The Frenchman and Saka were promptly replaced by Willock and Nketiah as we head into the final 20 minutes.
The latter made a very clumsy challenge on Justin almost immediately and having been shown a yellow card, he was the subject of a VAR review. Stockley Park advised referee Chris Kavanagh to review it on the pitchside monitor and he subsequently upgraded it to a red.
Having already been under pressure, it became a real game of attack versus defence. Vardy was flagged offside after rounding Martinez. That he put wide was reason enough for Martinez and Luiz to exchange high-fives.
Torreira was sent on for Ceballos in an attempt to sure things up further but we kept getting deeper and deeper, resorting to long balls that were returned with interest. It felt inevitable that Vardy would get his reward for a typically tenacious performance and with six minutes to go he did, tapping home at the far post after escaping Mustafi. VAR took an absolute age to check whether he was onside. This time the decision went the way of the visitors. The goal stood. (1-1)
Could we hold out for a draw? That was the question when eight minutes of stoppage time were signalled. Maitland-Niles was sent on to add further mettle as we sacrificed Aubameyang. The answer was yes, despite substitute Praet trying his luck from range with the last kick of the game.
While it was a relief not to lose, not finishing off the game when we had the opportunities to do so, definitely rankles. A point takes our tally to 50 but a golden chance to close the gap on the Champions League places passes us by. It’s looking more and more likely that we’ll have to settle for another year in the Europa League.
Cracking game if you were a neutral, but such a disappointing outcome for Arsenal.
Before the red card we were in pretty good control. Ultimately punished for not scoring more in the 1st half when dominating. Schmeichel was a beast for them. Saying all that, I still think Vardy was offside (possibly even twice?).
At least we can put this disappointment behind us on Sunday by moving us closer towards St Totteringhams Day.
Vardy was probably offside if Perez touched it which I think he did. But Leicester had a goal called off when Kola took a dive so a draw is probably fair.
Not sure how Leicester went the whole game without 1 card. Why does that always seem to happen to us? Remember the guy a few games ago with 8-9 fouls against us with no card….
Europa still a possibility I guess.
Yeah, the inconsistency in PL officiating still boggles the mind. Vardy bloods Mustafi with his studs (accidental) and Nketiah knee-highs their guy with his (accidental). No card and red card. Vardy scores the equalizer after our guy is sent off. That’s premiere stuff.
Painful. Don’t think it was deliberate from Eddie but lost us the match I reckon. 3 match ban too..
Blaming Eddie for this? We lack top quality players to exploit our opportunities. The manager is more interested in players who could get in the boat than top players (at least for now).
I mean are you really disputing that it lost us the match?
Yes, they did not score their goal in a game situation where they faced 2 or three players. They could have scored same goal against 11 players.
Balance son, Balance. Eddie removes two center backs and a defensive midfielder with his pressing. Ref fucked us
What is wrong with you? If Eddie hadn’t of got sent off we probably could ó a few more
Var was suspicious today. Why didn’t they use the second line? Vardy’s head looked offside
Vardys head is so massive it’s always offside
As an Arsenal fan we’ve all had to develop a self-defense mechanism ( at least I did) not to get too carried away when we’re up 1-0, even if we’re more dominant, because we can screw it up in any shape or form……and unfortunately this old habit was useful again.
However this performance is something we can build upon and Arteta might be the manager who should be given all the necessary funds to improve the squad with the players he wants to work with.
There hasn’t been ONE occasion this season I’ve seen a ref go over to the monitors at the side to look at a VAR incident. It just had to be our game, so typical. If Eddie had stayed on we would’ve held out. Those two dropped points could be really costly
It’s only right that the ref goes out to check the monitor to make such a big call. But what really annoyed me was that he just glimpsed at it from one angle and immediately made the call.
The stream I was watching showed another angle right after, and it wasn’t that clear what happened there.
It wasn’t malicious, but it was definitely a red. Imagine if that was on one of ours, what outcome would you want?
100%, imagine the like of Shawcross doing that and what your reaction would be. It’s shit because it was obviously an accident but thems the breaks.
He was making a break away as last striker, went for ball and stomped on player. Why’s that definitely a red ? 2 CBs in two last games have stomped on Lacas ankle without even a remonstration
Previous poor decisions doesn’t make that challenge acceptable. Or are you saying that the previous two shouldn’t have been a red too. You’re not making much sense.
Two events with intention from the back, studs up. I know which is red card for me
He intentionally fucked us, the fucker. He already made up his mind before going over
It’s ridiculous that the exact same motion eddie made was the same as has happened 3 times in the last few games against us. Those instances were all from behind on the ankle or achillies instead of head on. It’s no more dangerous. Inconsistency really grates. I guess it’s a red for being marginally reckless but those others were simply deliberate
We gave enough to win this. Sucks big time. Kudos to the boys for not wilting. We finally playing like a team. Now let’s shit on tottenham.
Yeah Kudos to Mikels effect on everyone even Laca after a slow start, but need to increase the going for the throat efforts. Keep going for the jugular, direct play direct play.
The odds of us making the CL were extremely low anyways but a draw felt deflating. That said this team really seems to be coming together the past few weeks. Some of our play prior to the red was outstanding and it took some pretty solid saves to keep the score at 1- nil. If we get in some new players this summer and convince Auba to stay, there should be some real optimism about what Arteta is building
Cebal was doing through balls at random! Yeahh!!! ??????
Yeah, I’d kind of written off the Champions League anyway considering the form of the top four (and City probably getting off scot-free, not to mention the points gap). But damn was I frustrated at the end anyway! I’m going to try to think of that as a positive overall. The fact that we could’ve/should’ve won, if not for an accidental iffy red and a questionable non-offside call, and probably should have been 2-0 up anyway, shows that the growth continues and we’re better than our position in the table. I’m one of those who do want Europa League (basically… Read more »
Lost the drive in 2nd half. I guess fatigue came into picture. Even before nketiah’s red they were piling pressure but card did change our tactical subs. Silly challenge from nketiah. Onwards we go.
Ps : Vardy, Kane, Firmino, Aguero, Deeney. This phuckers will have stinkers all game but somehow always score against arsenal.
No they weren’t piling on pressure, if Eddie hadn’t of got sent off, We would have comfortably held out and maybe got another one or two. Why do refs always look for something more to punish are players? I think it’s a hangover from the Wenger days wen he just shit all over them if they had a bad game.
Eddie was the first sub for exactly the reason of pegging back Soyuncu, Evans and one midfielder. We wouldn’t have had that many foxes running at our back line with our own snapping forward
Poor 2nd half from us, we were sloppy. It’s happened quite a bit and we paid for Lacazette’s miss in the first half. Reckless from Nketiah, he was too enthusiastic, probably from Arteta’s instructions. 3 match ban as well. Shame because spirits were high after the Wolves win.
> probably from Arteta’s instructions
I really don’t think there’s any basis for that at all.
Also, any positivity? Sure, we lost our 100% record, but if not for the red and some great goalkeeping that was a very comfortable win against a presently top 4 team (which would have made it back to back wins against top 6 opposition). We’re obviously on the right track, here.
That was the first half though. Second half we sat off and let them play. Its not the first time we’ve done that and it seems like if we can score 1 we sit back and then switch to counter attack. It worked against Wolves, but not today. So I don’t see this as a viable tactic, especially when we should be imposing our football on teams not looking to catch teams on the break. Arteta himself said that at the beginning. On Nketiah, I think you’re wrong. Arteta is constantly coaching the younger players, he wants them to press… Read more »
If Arsenal appeal can he play against Spuds? I’m always confused with the process.
Yeah, me too. Possibly can get reduced to a 1 match ban instead?
Simply how he plays, he was going to stomp the ball into the ground and run off for a one vs one
not gonna start talking trash about one of our youngest players, but anyone else’s feeling that nketiah is not up for the task? a few tap ins aside, i fail to see why he earned the promise tag… starting to remind me of sanogo. hope he learns from this though and proves me wrong. coyg
Scoring a ton of tap ins is a skill. Aubameyang mostly only scores tap ins. You don’t get extra credit for scoring a nice goal, they all count the same.
He’s a ghost striker, pretty good at nicking goals, puts in a shift too. Not a bad second striker to have once Martinelli takes over.
You’re wrong. And Sanogo would be a god in Mikels structured units
Eddie is not good enough. His first touch is clumsy , he is clumsy as a whole.
It was a long shot, but this was our chance to really go for it towards the tail end of this season. In usual Arsenal-esque fashion we blew our lead against a team that, realistically, deserved nothing from that match. Time for a regroup after an undoubtedly disappointing result.
Also question for blogs – why are all my comments being listed as “awaiting approval”? Has been happening for a while now, irrespective of what I post?
Same – are we marked:)
DIssapointed to drop points, but happy to take draw in the end. We were excellent in first half and should have finished game off. We had good shape, controlled game and created lots of chances. Was confident we would see game out, until Eddie got sent off. Fair enough red card, but feeling sorry for him as he clearly didnt mean it and a split second earlier would have beaten his man and fancied his chances of running on and scoring. Still further signs of progress for me and am more than happy with where we are heading under Arteta.… Read more »
Unlucky for Eddy but we he’s a humble lad so can’t be too angry. I think there goes our champions League hope we had, but more positives than negatives. Wonder why Pepe didn’t start with Saka on the left though. I’ll give Arteta the benefit of the doubt though
I feel for Eddie, but think its a chance to play Auba in middle, with Saka on left and Pepe/Reiss Nelson on the right
Or give Lacazette, who played well today and was incredibly unlucky not to score at least one, a bit more of a consistent run. The new setup clearly works, and on a different day it could have been 3 or 4 with a couple of Lacazette goals. He’s a striker who thrives on confidence and linkup and I think, as unfashionable as it might be right now, we would be well served to let him get some momentum going instead of constantly swapping him in and out. Saka, I think, should play at LWB when he’s not playing this new… Read more »
Shame about the result, but we are definitely improving under Arteta. Ceballos is looking jolly good at the moment too.
Ceballos’ only good games for us have come when it’s hot out. Not sure he likes the English winters.
He needs time. I’d like to see him stay.
You did see the monsoon tonight?!
It was raining, not snowing 🙂
I hope I’m wrong, but you look at a guy like Tierney and you don’t worry about whether he “can do it on a cold night at Stoke”. Ceballos, he hasn’t shown the consistency, but if we use the fees from selling Guendouzi to acquire him then I’d be pretty happy about that.
Does anyone else also think that the refereeing against us in the last few games has been absolutely atrocious? I don’t remember Johnny Evans getting even a telling off from the ref in the whole game, while he kept crashing into our forwards time and again.
Laca’s got to bury those chances. Bellerin played well. We were really good in the 1st half. The red card changed everything. VARdy goal was suspicious to say the least. But I was always sure that VAR would never give us the benefit of doubt.
We should have had the game won by half time.
We were superb before the break and created enough clear-cut chances to have finished Leicester off. Laca and Saca in particular were wasteful. And Their keeper was excellent. You just knew we would pay for our profligacy in the second half.
It WAS a sending off for Eddie. It was a stupid and dangerous “tackle”. Then we had to hang on but couldn’t. Shame.
If we can keep up this level of performance we might get something out of this season.
Now let’s beat Spuds.
This was a game I actually think we deserved to win. I like what Arteta has done with this Arsenal team, but he hasn’t had much luck.
My thoughts exactly.
Honestly can’t wait to see Lacazette leave the club. Missed 2-3 golden chances to put us further more and missed all of them. Had Arteta screaming at him at the 60th minute (inspite of not starting the last match). What the fuck is he so tired of by the 60th minute.
Just want to make it clear that there are two Jacks on this board
(I’m the one with the bright green picture and the less negative comments)
So which Jack are you? The Original Jack or Jack?
There can only be one!
Cry me a river. It’s one of the most common names on the planet
I wasn’t complaining that we had the same name ?
I’m complaining that you bring the name into disrepute with your stupid negativity
There is actually a third Jack. That one has arguably the best picture here.
Should change them to Jack-on and Jack-off.
Pretty clear which is which
Brilliant !
Done
Fuck you SkySports, why is it that Leno gets a season ending Injury I a nasty malicious ‘challenge’ and all the pundits are like ‘Well that’s the the game, it happens, there was no intent, its not a booking’. But then when one of out youngsters who has only got eyes for the ball makes a tackle in a genuine attempt for the ball, it’s all “Well it doesn’t matter about Intent, he endangered the opponent and its a red” Kick Arsenal up and down the pitch with impunity because ‘they have a soft underbelly and that’s what you do… Read more »
Another mid air shove on Mustafi too.
They never really got over the fact that when Wenger came in he embarrased english football. Firstly with a brand a football that even Man utd couldn’t match so Ferguson had to become practical like Mourinho and just kick us off the park, back then we could fight fire with fire. Secondly Not by being a genius but by doing things that are common sense and professional like not going to the pub before and after games and actually nutrioning the body like an athlete. Wengers eloquence at the time made them feel small and looked down on.
I just don’t think it’s a red. The slo-mo makes it look so much worse, he doesn’t actually connect with the studs anyway, he’s trying to pull out, just looks bad from that side angle. It’s one they really needed to let go. Completely changed the game. And the ref watched it from one angle, once, before changing his mind. It’s completely nuts.
I think it was a fairly clear cut red. If he’s unlucky, and James’ foot is firmly planted there, it could be very bad. You just can’t stud someone at knee height and expect to stay on in 2020.
I also think Maupay should be sent off for his challenge, but it’s not something that happens often, whereas Eddie’s is pretty standard by this point. I don’t think it’s a double standard against Arsenal so much as a double standard on what types of dangerous challenges are punished.
I think the rules are joke, and that the reasons for giving a red card in England is not based not fair play.
If only we’d put away more of those chances in the first half. We should have. Leicester were never going to just roll over.
Very unlucky to be honest. Some slick play in the first half. I bet we will be more efficient in the box going into next season. A draw we can take some positives from in my opinion.
But for the red, we easily would have won this game
Easily. Would we? 1 goal never makes things easy
The Vardy kick in the face non-red or the red to Eddie?
Unlucky, thought we played well but were undone by the sending off. Encouraging performance but we really need to be more clinical.
Gut-punching to draw that – but the front 3 had a fantastic first half. Possibly the best attacking half we have had all season – more please!
They really did. It was a really good performance in most regards, and people would be talking very differently if we go in 3-0 at half time, Nketiah stays on (or doesn’t come on), and we stroll to victory. Fine margins.
We have played much better the last 2 games,4 points out of 6 a good return, better than predicted.Leicester are a really good team, telling that their best player was Schmeichel.
Come on you Gunners.
Really disappointed by our approach in the 2nd half. It’s easy to get pushed back when you don’t commit players further up the pitch when in possession. We played with fear in that sense. That was a team that when we were positive in our numbers were quite easy to open up. Maybe it wad the mental pressure or lack of self belief but that game got away from us because we didn’t stay positive. Real shame as it would’ve been interesting to see the how that effected things for the remaining games
I felt like it all stemmed from a lack of intensity, especially from the 2 central midfielders, who looked tired in that 2nd half. The 2 of them were brilliant in the first half, I thought, but it came at the cost of running out of steam in the 2nd half. We really need to improve the central midfield, if nothing more than to have good back-up options. I really like Torreira but I could understand why Arteta wouldn’t have wanted to put him on for either of the 2 that started in midfield, as his passing isn’t as incisive… Read more »
Unfortunately we would’ve been outnumbered in midfield, and as good as Xhaka and Ceballos have been, they’re not quite Santi-like to play their way out of a strong press, which Leicester certainly did today. Personally, I think Arteta should’ve taken a slight gamble and gone with a back four, and brought Pepa and either Torreira/Willock on and matched Leicester’s formation, at the expense of a CB.
Draw’s still a great result considering the general theme of the season, and it was a game of fine margins here, something I couldn’t have said when we played Leicester at the King Power
Why are you debating this, we dominated the game and had a bad sending off. Arteta had it spot on, you’ll probably blame arteta for the sending off
What a sucker punch that equaliser was.
We paid bigtime for all those chances we didn’t take in the 1st half.
Gutted.
Any one else think Vardy meant to kick and catch Mustafi? Probably didn’t mean to catch his face but knew he was there and to me looked like it was an unnecessary movement with his leg when going down, where he knew he would make contact.
Nah, he’s a snide prick, but I don’t think there was any intent there.
I think I’m probably the only person who was screaming at the challenge on Mustafi at the corner that winded him, though! Coincidentally it looked like Vardy put in a snide shove on Tierney immediately after that, but I didn’t see a replay – was I imagining it?
I thought the same thing, he wanted to leave something on him but not on the face
Gutted for Nketiah, hope he bounces back and doesn’t take it to heart or change his passion and energy.
Ceballos would be getting a rare 10/10 from me if the game ended at half time. What a performance. Sadly he didn’t have as much chance to dictate in the second half, but that was so encouraging.
I might be overreacting to recent weeks, but I’d actually pay the permanent transfer clause at this point.
Me too. He’s getting better and better, fulfilling that early potential we all saw at Burnley. He’s had time to settle, and gone a long way to proving himself. I wonder what we’d have to pay? I reckon anything up to 30 million would be well worth it given how young he is, though I somehow doubt they’ll let him go.
For Real, it’s been a great chance to watch him get regular game time (since the injury) and test himself. Given himself a great opportunity to compete for game time there.
I think we have an option at about £40m
The way Arteta has the team pressing high is very encouraging. We won the ball quite a few times that way. The Wolves and the Foxes are both solid outfits and we did well enough to win both games except for an unlucky red card.
Europa League is no sure thing. I think we need it to give the squad enough games, but we’ll miss it if we can’t finish strong…unless we win the Cup!
Laca has never been ruthless for us.. I like him but he isn’t an upgrade even to Giroud. They serve the same function I could easily argue that Giroud is the better player. Also need way more goals from midfield. In our prime when Henry opened the scoring you knew Ljungberg or Pires would chip in later on.
Disappointing but we are improving and Leicester are a good side under Rodgers, certainly better than us this season.
I agree with you in terms of his finishing, but we really missed him throwing himself about and his hold-up play when he was taken off. I think that we would have held on for the win of he stayed on (Nketiah sending off aside).
We ( Laca) were wasteful in first half. We lost energy in second half and a bad challenge sent Eddie off. And we’ve some players who are not top 4 material.
Despite this I feel I got my Arsenal back. Everybody put all they got into the game and work hard in 90 minutes. We’ve lot of talent in the squad and a manager who improve day by day. Sign Auba and Dani,maybe 1-2 more players in and we’ll take top 4 next year
I fucking hate that smirking tit rogers. Most punchable face in the Prem.
Fuck him. Fuck the foxes. Dimestore bullies. Fuck that slim ball vardy.
Eddie. WFT, lad? Goddamnit.
Damn unfortunate. Went down to 10 and lost the lead. But superb first half I thought, far more fluid and used the width well, quick transitions. Saka better this game had a couple of chances and much better with bellerin this time combining even if his best chance fell to his chocolate leg and was tame. Should have punished them with several good opportunities including Laca’s drive slightly too close then the diving header. The Frenchman played a strong part protecting but also distributing it very incisively. another reason we should start him. We were a bit more behind the… Read more »
Nobody will blame perfect Arteta but we were so behind every ball. We are late, we are stressed, Arteta puts Nketiah on,very agressive player and yells chase at him Subs came late, we stretched and pushed people to the limit again and that limit led to Nketiah red when he tried to break something that was problem for last 20 minutes. Cant wait to hear mostly about the amazing first half on the podcast.
Ending a game at home with no attackers on the pitch is embarrassing. Desperately trying to cling on to 1 goal lead. I was screaming for Pepe to come on, the space they were leaving behind while pushing for the equaliser would have been perfect for him. Artetas subs are definitely his weak point. Willock offered nothing again. Can’t blame Eddie, he was going for the ball, just badly time. Pretty sure Leicester should have had a couple of yellows too. Needed a win To keep any hopes of 5th alive. Let’s hope we smash spuds at the weekend and… Read more »
Any way with this draw our hopes of finishing in top 5 is over.Now my hopes are on finishing sixth and above Spurs which will be a decent achievement when we consider the situation Arsenal were in until the Start of this year…
If the crossed ball, it touched Perez foot before vardy , it is a new off side decision to be made. That’s like math or science , not subjective