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From competition for European football to bragging rights in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot, there was a lot at stake as seventh-placed Arsenal welcomed fourth-placed Leicester City to the Emirates on Tuesday evening. Both sides had recorded encouraging wins in their previous matches and went into this encounter with some confidence and lots to play for. History was on the side of the hosts, with Leicester not having won on the road since New Year’s Day and actually having lost to Arsenal in their last 12 visits to the red part of North London.
The early signs seemed to suggest that history would repeat itself, as Arsenal displayed much more attacking intent in the early exchanges. Their efforts were rewarded in the 21st minute as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fired them into lead, tucking away Bukayo Saka’s inviting cross.
Leicester showed some quality in their passing play and posed the occasional threat, but failed to trouble the Arsenal back line in the first half, with the absence of regular fullbacks Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell proving to be a big miss for the away side.
Both teams had a goal ruled out before the turning point of the match arrived in the 75th minute. Eddie Nketiah, on as a substitute barely five minutes ago, was shown a red card after a VAR review of his rash foul on James Justin.
Sensing an opportunity, Brendan Rodgers threw on his attacking options from the bench as his side chased the equaliser. That arrived less than 10 minutes after Arsenal went down to 10 men - having seen one of closest competitors for the Premier League’s top scorer bag a goal in the first half, Jamie Vardy replied with a strike of his own to make it 1-1. It was his 10th strike in as many goals against Arsenal and bore a striking resemblance to the home side’s opener.
Despite Leicester’s best efforts to turn one point into three, the Foxes had to settle for a share of the spoils, maintaining a four-point advantage over fifth-placed Manchester United in the battle for the Champions League places. Arsenal face another tough test in their race to secure European football, with the North London derby coming up next for them.
Here are the player ratings from an engaging, eventful, and ultimately fair draw at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal
Emiliano Martinez: 6/10
Off the back of three clean sheets in three completed appearances in the Premier League since coming in for the injured Bernd Leno, Martinez has grown in confidence in the Arsenal goal and was equal to almost everything that was thrown at him on the night. Having been secure in his handling all night, he would be disappointed at having let Vardy’s equaliser go past him.
Hector Bellerin: 6/10
The Spaniard came back into the side to replace Cedric and put in an impressive showing on the Arsenal right, bombing forward at every opportunity afforded him by the Leicester wing-backs. He did not shirk any of his defensive responsibilities in doing so either and got back whenever needed.
Shkodran Mustafi: 6/10
The German came in for heavy criticism for his performances in the early part of the season but has found a new lease of life of late. He made several timely interceptions and did not allow Vardy the chance to use his pace to get in behind.
David Luiz: 6/10
The Brazilian seems to have bounced back admirably from his horror show at the Etihad in the first game after lockdown and is essaying the role of central center-back in Arsenal’s back three with some confidence. Luiz delivered a calm and composed performance and would feel aggrieved at having conceded the late equaliser.
Sead Kolasinac: 7/10
Having had his share of issues at left-back in the past, Kolasinac seems to have found his footing as the left-sided center-back in a back three. His physicality and positioning make him the favourite in most of the tackles he attempts, which was clearly evident on the night.
Kieran Tierney: 6/10
Never missed an opportunity to run into space behind James Justin at right wing-back, sending in a number of crosses into the box with varying degrees of accuracy and success on his forays forward. However, he seemed to tire as the game wore on and was unable to prevent Gray from sending in the cross that led to Leicester’s equaliser.
Dani Ceballos: 7/10
Typically busy performance in midfield from the Spaniard, who was always looking to get his side on the front foot. His defence-splitting pass played Saka in the build-up to Aubameyang’s goal and he also made a number of similarly attacking contributions before being replaced by Lucas Torreira late on as Arsenal looked to shore up their defence.
Granit Xhaka: 7/10
While his midfield partner was given more freedom in terms of movement and passing, Xhaka sat in front of his defence and focused on key interceptions as well as keeping the ball moving when it was in his possession.
Bukayo Saka: 6.5/10
Fresh from his goal-scoring exploits at Wolves, Saka gave Soyuncu a torrid time down Arsenal’s right flank with his pace and movement and set up Aubameyang’s goal. The young winger would have been pleased with his outing before he went off for Joe Willock on the 70-minute mark.
Alexandre Lacazette: 6/10
Rewarded for his goal in the previous match against Wolves with a starting spot in this game, Lacazette linked up well with Aubameyang and Saka and got into inviting positions regularly but failed to find the target before being replaced by Nketiah with 20 minutes to play.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 7/10
The Arsenal captain has been deployed on the left wing in Mikel Arteta’s new system and has reaped the rewards of late. Aubameyang opened the scoring with an easy finish, becoming the first Arsenal player since Thierry Henry to score 20 league goals in a season and keeping the race for the Golden Boot alive as well.
Substitutes:
Eddie Nketiah: 0/10
The young striker, who seems to have replaced Lacazette in the starting lineup of late, came on for the Frenchman on this occasion for the last 20 minutes. However, he followed him off barely four minutes later without getting a single touch of the ball, catching James Justin on his thigh with a late studs-up challenge.
Joe Willock: 4/10
Willock replaced Bukayo Saka on Arsenal’s right flank but failed to have the same impact on the game as his compatriot and was largely anonymous during his short stay on the pitch.
Lucas Torreira: N.A.
The Uruguayan midfielder continued his return from injury with another cameo as he came on with under 10 minutes to play, but failed to make any impact on the game whatsoever.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: N.A.
The young Englishman came on for Aubameyang in stoppage time as Arteta looked to shut up shop completely.
Leicester City
Kasper Schmeichel: 7/10
Although he could not have done anything about Aubameyang’s opener, Leicester’s captain distinguished himself with a selection of fine saves that kept his side in the tie.
James Justin: 5/10
Playing in an unfamiliar wing-back role, the young defender struggled to get involved in his side’s attacking play and was often caught out of position by the pace of Aubameyang and the intelligent movement of Tierney. Fared better after Leicester reverted to a flat back four.
Ryan Bennett: 5/10
Drafted into the side in place of the injured Ben Chilwell, the former Wolves and Norwich City man endured a tough first start for the Foxes and found Aubameyang more than a handful. Bennet was replaced by the more attacking Demarai Gray just after Nketiah’s sending off as Leicester chased the game with more vigour.
Jonny Evans: 5/10
Although all of Leicester’s center-backs struggled to cope with playing in a back three, Evans’ role was quite similar to his normal position which is why his performance was more error-free than his companions in defence. However, it still featured the odd error in judgement, especially in the first half, but grew more assured in the second.
Caglar Soyuncu: 4/10
The change in formation seemed to have a real impact on the Turkish defender’s performance as he seemed to constantly be found out of position and was uncharacteristically nervy on the ball as well.
Marc Albrighton: 5/10
Playing in a more withdrawn wing-back role, the pacy and normally attack-minded winger was perpetually caught in two minds over when to attack and when to defend, ultimately failing to do either with much conviction.
Wilfried Ndidi: 6/10
The Nigerian’s central defensive midfield role took on heightened importance because of Leicester’s altered defensive shape. Ndidi was his usual assured self in the center of the park but did not have a decisive impact on the game and was taken off for Praet late on.
Youri Tielemans: 5/10
The young Belgian was not afforded much time on the ball by Ceballos and Xhaka and struggled to provide his usual creative spark from midfield.
Ayoze Perez: 6/10
Playing behind the two strikers, the Spaniard was perhaps the most lively of the Leicester attackers but always seemed to be dispossessed or blocked by an Arsenal defender just before he could pull the trigger
Kelechi Iheanacho: 5/10
The young striker failed to continue his recent scoring run as he got into some promising positions but was thwarted by either poor finishing or astute defending. Was taken off early in the second half as Brendan Rodgers looked to shake things up.
Jamie Vardy: 7/10
The Premier League’s latest centurion added to his tally of 101 goals late on as he got on the end of Gray’s inviting ball across the face of goal. It was a just reward for his untiring efforts on the pitch, as he spent most of his time either running down the channels in the first half or through the middle in the second.
Substitutes:
Harvey Barnes: 5/10
The pacy winger gave Leicester a new creative outlet down the left flank but failed to create any clear-cut opportunities either for himself or his fellow attackers.
Christian Fuchs: 5/10
The experienced left-back replaced Albrighton with about 15 minutes into the second half as Leicester looked to alter their formation and attack anew.
Demarai Gray: 7/10
Brought on for Ryan Bennett as Leicester chased the equaliser, the lively Gray set up Vardy’s goal with an inviting cross into just the right area that the striker duly tucked away.
Dennis Praet: 5/10
Although the Belgian midfielder got a few touches of the ball after coming on late, he was unable to provide a moment of real quality.
