Foxes Storm by Arsenal! Report By Simon Mack

Leicester City 2 Arsenal 0

King Power Stadium

9^th November 2019 17:30

Leicester City moved up to 2^nd spot in the Premier League once again with a superb 2-0 victory over visitors Arsenal.

Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers went with an unchanged side to the one that defeated Crystal Palace on the road last weekend whilst Granit Xhaka having been stripped of the club captaincy for the gunners remained unready to resume his duties for the visitors. City came into this one with 7 wins from the last 9 premier league games under their belt and looking to heap pressure on the top 2 clash on Sunday between Liverpool and Manchester United.

With a league points tally to date better than the title winning season and the evergreen Jamie Vardy on fire the ‘can they’ chat around the foxes is seeming to abate as a realisation dawns that the foxes assault on the top 4 is here to stay.

Early on the game flowed end to end and a clumsy foul on the edge of the box afforded James Maddison a dead ball opportunity 30 yards from goal. The resulting cross fizzed temptingly across the box and at the back post foxes defender Caglar Soyunchu went down as he attempted to meet the delivery. Soyunchu seemed certain he had been fouled by Guendouzi and the post-match replays seemed to show the French midfielder has impeded the Turk with his arm but despite VAR looking at the incident no foul was awarded.

Arsenal built some tidy moves amongst this game that went back and fourth, but despite Alexandre Lacazette pushing a chance wide of the post he might have done better with it was the foxes that seemed to have the upper hand in making the most of the forward forays, and a neat move involving Maddison and Tielemans down the middle afforded the ball to Ayonze Perez and his low cross was somehow missed by Vardy at the back post with the goal gaping in front of him.

As Leicester continued to build pressure in the Arsenal final third another clumsy challenge to the edge of the box gave James Maddison another chance to work his dead ball magic. This time he went for goal and the resulting effort curled just over the bar as it drifted toward the top left corner unchecked by Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno.

With the scores even at half time it wasn’t long into the 2^nd period before the foxes were at their visitors again, and a neat move involving Ricardo deep in the gunner’s box saw the ball squared to Wilfred Ndidi mid-way into the Arsenal 18 yard zone but his strike hit the bar firm and true and denied city the lead once again.

Captain for the day Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang thought he’s scored for the visitors when his neat finish to a sweeping Arsenal break found the far corner past Leicester keeper Schmeichel, but the linesman got it spot on with his off side flag and on came Demari Gray to replace Perez wide right for the hosts.

The game seemed to open up as both sides went hunting for the points. With Arsenal’s abysmal recent form on the road and no win in their last four the shell they’d been containing Leicester within was slowly peeled back, but sadly for the visitors this was only to afford their hosts better and more frequent opportunity.

Ricardo and Gray almost immediately linked up to great effect down the right flank and the resultant move lead to the ball being delivered to Tielemans to the right of the Arsenal box and he superbly threaded the ball to an unmarked Jamie Vardy in the box and his swept the ball home to give the foxes the lead.

Arsenal continued to try and wind up their offensive efforts but once again this afforded space and opportunity for the foxes, and Demari Gray’s efforts once again set up Vardy and only Leno’s firm block prevented city from doubling their lead.

Dennis Praet came off the bench for Harvey Barnes in a tactical move by city gaffer Rodgers, and with the new midfield shape installed more neat work from Ricardo down the right saw Wilfred Ndidi find Vardy across the far side of the box. He neatly squared the ball for the inrushing James Maddison who rocketed the ball into the visitors net to seal the points and ensure a 2^nd spot berth for city as the top two go to war on Sunday.

This had been a superb victory for the foxes in the lashing rain at King Power Stadium. All the while Arsenal had remained compact the foxes had toiled to break them down, but as soon as they began to press forward looking for opportunity to take the points the space afforded for city’s lethal midfield became too much for the gunner’s defence to handle, and the eventual victory for Leicester displayed their superior quality in attacking prowess over their visitors.

With Brendan Rodgers left to wax lyrical about his talisman striker, and a superb exploitation of Arsenal’s 3 at the back formation on the day the Leicester City Juggernaut just keeps rolling over all comers in a manner that has laid waste to the ‘pretenders’ talk amongst the media. Arsenal changed their system in a manner that seemed to be more about Unai Emery clutching at straws in a desperate bid to find something to cling onto. The resultant system was exploited by the foxes in a devastating manner in the second half when the gunners became more adventurous, and the city full backs (especially Ricardo) deserve huge credit for capitalising on the gunners defensive shortcomings out wide.

Sunday lunch will be all the sweeter this weekend on the back of a superb victory that see’s Leicester now 9 points clear of 5^th spot in the table, and as the afternoon’s fayre digests the only 2 sides in the league ahead of them go to war in a game that could shape the rest of the season at the top of the table. I heard talk of this now being a 3 horse race for the title this season last night. Carried away?? Well maybe a little, but anyhow this Leicester City side is a vintage one, and one to be proud of for all of us.

Player Ratings:

Schmeichel: 7 It was wet and slippy and his assured handling in a tricky situation was just what the doctor ordered.

Ricardo: 8.5 (MOTM) The gunners played 3 at the back and Ricardo was pivotal in destroying Arsenal’s lack of experience in that formation. Spent more time in the final 3^rd it felt than anywhere else. Superb today.

Evans: 6.5 Passionate and committed as always. A couple of clumsy challenges in there.

Soyunchu: 7 Should have had a penalty early on but it wasn’t to be for some inexplicable reason. A titan at the back.

Chilwell: 7 Continues to maintain his form of late. Pressed and defended well.

Ndidi: 7 Unlucky not to get of the score sheet when his effort hit the bar square on. Was involved in the build up for the second goal and was constantly nipping at the oppositions heels in his normal disruptive manner.

Tielemans: 8 Another sublime performance that involved an assist for Vardy and some hopeful shots on goal. He makes it look so easy.

Maddison: 8 Another goal some superb free kicks, his corner delivery much improved and ever creative and busy in the greater good of city’s offensive work.

Barnes: 6.5 Ran at the defence when given the opportunity. Nothing of note resulted from his efforts but is always a threat if given space.

Perez: 6.5 Worked hard and had one decent chance. His low cross nearly met by Vardy at the back post in the 1^st half. Still in and out of games at times.

Vardy: 8.25 Superb finish, intelligent positioning amongst a mess of an Arsenal defence. His intelligence and lethal finishing is absolutely key to city’s season. Brilliant.

Subs:

Gray: 8 His impact from the bench must be getting him close to a start? Linked up superbly with Ricardo down the right and was involved in almost all that resulted in the foxes victory today.

Praet: 7 On for Barnes in a change of system the Belgian always contributes and is a useful man to have from the bench when a little more defensive guile is required from midfield.