A late own goal from Robert Huth kept Arsenal's top four hopes alive in a game that left a lot to be desired at the Emirates.
Kasper Schmeichel made some decent saves to keep the Premier League champions in the game before Huth's misfortune saw Arsenal take the points and move up to sixth.
The result leaves the Gunners four points off fourth-placed Manchester City, who they recently knocked out of the FA Cup. With Manchester City and their local rivals United facing each other next, at least one will drop points so a top four finish could yet be possible.
At one point the race for fourth looked over, but Arsenal have just about clawed themselves back into it. Performances certainly need to improve, but at least the results have been getting better. In truth fourth wouldn't really be good enough and would still mean we are way off the pace in the title race. It would be an impressive recovery to get back into the top four though and sealing Champions League football is a must so we need to up our game and rely on other results going our way.
Although champions Leicester have largely under-performed this season, it was always going to be a tough game against the Foxes. It was Leicester who had the first real chance of note as Jamie Vardy fired a shot into the side netting.
Arsenal tried to put pressure on their opponents with Schmeichel producing a decent save to push away Francis Coquelin's long-range effort, before Granit Xhaka fired a shot over the crossbar.
A long throw-in by Christian Fuchs very nearly set up a goal for Leicester as Riyad Mahrez met it on the volley, but Petr Cech produced a great reaction save to turn it over the bar.
Although the first half was largely a dull affair Arsenal did come close on a further two occasions to breaking the deadlock before half-time. Theo Walcott dinked the ball over the defender before firing in a low shot that Schmeichel did well to push away before Alexis Sanchez's strike hit the crossbar.
Wilfred Nidi tried his luck for Leicester in the early stages of the second half, only to see his header comfortably saved by Cech.
Arsenal began to grow into the half and only a superb last-ditch tackle from Huth stopped Sanchez from pulling the trigger in the box. The Gunners continued to push forward, but each time they were frustrated by the opposition's impressive goalkeeper Schmeichel. The Dane produced an excellent save to palm Xhaka's deflected strike behind for a corner before making more routine saves to deny Laurent Koscielny and Sanchez.
There was a worrying moment for the hosts 12 minutes from time when Koscielny was down needing treatment and Arsene Wenger had already made all three substitutions. Fortunately the French defender was able to continue.
In the corresponding fixture we needed a late goal from Danny Welbeck to snatch the win and we again left it until the closing stages to snatch the win at the Emirates. With just four mintues remaining Sanchez's cross ballooned up into the area before Nacho Monreal hit it on the half volley and it cannoned in via a wicked deflection off Huth.
The score could have got worse for the visitors soon after as Mesut Ozil netted from close range, but the German's effort was ruled out for offside.
Arsenal's hard work was nearly undone deep into stoppage time following a scramble in the box, but the hosts did just about enough to clear the danger and hold on for the victory.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Leicester fan Tom Earl admitted it wasn't the best of games after seeing his side coming away from the Emirates without anything to show for their efforts.
"I don't think it was a great game, but I thought we defended well," said Earl. "We had the odd chance to score, but Arsenal should have scored more to be honest.
"I would question why (Yohan) Benalouane hasn't played before the (Wes) Morgan injury. He is technically better than either Huth or Morgan.
"Most Leicester fans will tell you (Demarai) Gray should start more. Maybe he will when Mahrez leaves in the summer."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
It may not have been the greatest display, but it is a results business and we got the result! There is no denying that league performances need to improve, but if we can grind out a victory like that at Tottenham in our next match I won't be complaining however we get it.
Without being disrespectful to Leicester, Spurs are in great form and will pose a completely different challenge. We will need to dramatically up our game if we are to have a chance of snatching all three points in the North London Derby. It is very likely that Spurs will finish above us for the first time since Arsene Wenger has been at the helm at Arsenal, but we could improve our top four aspirations and put a huge dent in their title bid if we can claim the win.
No matter what happens Wenger and the players owe us a massive performance and one to be proud of and every single one of them needs to stand up to be counted at White Hart Lane!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
No comments:
Post a Comment