Mikel Merino came off the bench to be the hero, scoring twice to earn Arsenal all three points in an important victory at the King Power Stadium. Arsenalstruggled to break down Leicester City all afternoon, but Mikel Arteta’s decision to turn to Merino as a makeshift centre forward gave them two late goals.
Injury-hit Arsenal are still clinging on in the race with Liverpool to become Premier League champions, while Leicester City’s hopes of avoiding relegation took a blow.
As it happened
Both sides came into today’s game with far from ideal preparation. For Leicester, the headlines surrounded events off the pitch with supporters planning protests in the 14th minute against the club’s board. Meanwhile, the Gunners lost top scorer Kai Havertz for the remainder of the season after picking up a hamstring injury during their warm weather training camp in Dubai.
Leicester did well to limit Arsenal’s attacking threat in the first half, catching them offside and drawing cheap fouls to disrupt their rhythm. The main positive for the visitors was 17 year-old Ethan Nwaneri, who again performed far beyond his years and could have a significant role for the in the absence of Havertz, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli.
Embed from Getty ImagesLeicester almost went ahead before the break, with Wilfried Ndidi making a trademark run into the box. He met a cross from Victor Kristiansen but headed just past the post.
Good chances were hard to come by as a low-quality second half ticked by; Nwaneri was one of the few bright sparks, hitting the woodwork in the 61st and 77th minutes. However, Mikel Merino would come on for Raheem Sterling and steal the headlines.
After Leicester had an opener denied by Myles Lewis-Skelly’s smart interception in the 73rd minute, Merino broke the deadlock. With less than ten minutes remaining, Nwaneri delivered a pinpoint cross to the makeshift centre forward who headed powerfully past Mads Hermansen.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe home side had no choice but to push for an equaliser and risk men forward – but it proved their downfall. Riccardo Calafiori led a counter attack before passing to Trossard, whose cross found Merino at the back post. Who said Arsenal needed to sign a centre forward?
It was an all-too-familiar feeling for Leicester City, who looked on the verge of keeping only their second clean sheet of the season before a late collapse. They sit 19th after their ninth defeat in ten league games. Arsenal, however, kept the title within reach with only four points between them and league leaders Liverpool (who face Wolves on Sunday).
The lineups
LEI: Hermansen; Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen; Ndidi, Soumaré; Ayew, El Khannouss, De Cordova-Reid; Vardy
ARS: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Partey, Rice, Ødegaard; Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling
