Kelechi Iheanacho was a constant thorn in Arsenal's side in yet another away defeat, this time 3-1 at Leicester, in what was Arsene Wenger's penultimate match in charge.
Although there was little riding on this game, I went into it initially with some hope we could help Wenger's last few matches end victorious, especially after our impressive 5-0 home win over Burnley last time out.
I was a bit concerned when I saw the line-up and that Rob Holding and Dino Mavropanos were starting in the centre of defence. Holding could have a bright future and Mavropanos looked decent on his debut recently, but to have an inexperienced centre-back pairing was definitely worrying.
It was Mavropanos' red card that ultimately proved decisive as it seemed to totally knock the stuffing out of us and put Leicester firmly on the front foot for large spells of the match.
Before that though Arsenal had a great chance to open the scoring after just seven minutes. Good build-up play between Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi set up the latter, who created a bit of space before curling a shot towards goal which Eldin Jakupovic did excellently to palm away for a corner.
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech also performed well at the other end as without him the score could have been a lot worse. Cech was on hand to parry Jamie Vardy's shot wide for a corner after 12 minutes.
Cech could do nothing about the opening goal of the game two minutes later though. Arsenal failed to clear their lines from a corner before an excellent headed assist by Fousseni Diabate set up the lively Iheanacho to fire home from close range.
A big talking point arrived soon after as Mavropanos tangled with Iheanacho and hauled him down before he was given a straight red card. There is no denying it was a needless and careless foul by the Greek defender, but the question is was he really the last man and could it maybe have been a yellow card instead?
It did look to me as though there was another player, Rob Holding, and the covering defender had a chance of getting back across to stop the Leicester man. We'll never know for sure either way what would have happened, but it didn't change the fact that it was still a silly foul from Mavropanos.
Leicester grew in confidence and dominated the rest of the first half, with only a fine performance from Cech keeping the score down to 1-0 going in at the break. Harry Maguire got on the end of a free-kick, but Cech produced a fine reaction save to keep him out before parrying an effort from Iheanacho soon after.
Arsenal addressed the red card by bringing Shkodran Mustafi off the bench to replace Welbeck after 18 minutes, but in truth the Gunners rarely threatened in the first half.
The score could have been worse had Adrien Silva not sent a shot harmlessly off target shortly before the half hour mark as Leicester continued to dominate.
Arsenal's best chance of the first half fell to Henrikh Mkhitaryan after 34 minutes. Iwobi cut back into the box before setting up the Armenian attacking midfielder, whose shot was superbly parried away for a corner by Leicester's league debutant Jakupovic. From the resulting corner Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tried his luck with a poked shot, but it brushed just past the far post.
At the other end, Cech did well to push away Silva's free-kick before producing another fine save to deny Iheanacho.
Iheanacho was nearly in again shortly before half-time, but he was denied by an excellent last-ditch block from Holding before sending a speculative effort from halfway over the crossbar soon after.
Arsenal started the second half brightly and very nearly found an equaliser within two minutes of the restart, but Sead Kolasinac's effort hit the foot of a post.
Back came Leicester with Diabate shooting under Cech before Mustafi came to the rescue to clear his effort off the line.
Arsenal finally got back into the game with a well-taken equaliser after 53 minutes. Ainsley Maitland-Niles ran down the right and into the box before cutting a cross back for Aubameyang, who forced a fine save from Jakupovic from point-blank range and rifled home the rebound into the roof of the net.
Both sides wasted chances to take the lead as Iheanacho and Christian Fuchs sent shots off target for the hosts, while Mkhitaryan took a touch before sending his effort over the crossbar.
Demarai Gray had only been on the field for a short while when he helped Leicester gain a match-winning penalty 14 minutes from time. The 21-year-old was fouled in the box by Mkhitaryan and, although there didn't appear to be too much contact, a penalty was given and Vardy sent Cech the wrong way to score from the spot.
Arsenal had chances to score their second equaliser of the game, but Granit Xhaka saw his shot deflect wide for a corner before Kolasinac's header was saved by Jakupovic.
Aubameyang has a decent goalscoring record for the Gunners and he could've grabbed his second goal had his shot not deflected straight into the reach of Jakupovic.
Leicester sealed their first Premier League victory over Arsenal since 1994 when Mahrez faked a shot before turning the defender and expertly slotting a shot beyond Cech.
What a miserable evening for Wenger and the Gunners! We still have no away points in the league in 2018, which is a truly awful statistic.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Leicester fan Tom Earl believes some of their players put in their best performances for the club against the Gunners.
"I thought it was a cracking game and we played with pace and power" said Earl. "I'm not sure if it was a red or not, I was at the opposite end of the ground. I'd say it was a red, last man from my view.
"It was nice to see Vardy score against Arsenal again and it was the best game I've seen for Silva at Leicester along with Kelechi.
"Wenger got a good standing ovation as well which was nice to see. He is a brilliant manager overall and deserves loads of respect."
"Leicester's season was okay and I would have taken top 10 at the start of the season."
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Leicester was never going to be an easy match, but I also thought the score would be a lot closer than that.
Jakupovic and Cech both produced some fine saves to keep the scores down otherwise who knows what this game could have ended up.
No matter how the performance is analysed, the fact remains it is yet another league defeat on the road.
Without being disrespectful to our next opponents Huddersfield, how they have managed to get two points from back-to-back away games against champions Manchester City and Chelsea, yet we have no away points in 2018, shows just how poor we have been.
Huddersfield's latest draw at Chelsea secured their Premier League safety with a game to spare and they will want to end their first season in England's top division on a high.
We may not have anything to play for, but it would be nice if Wenger can at least sign of his reign with a victory and all three points.
With Arsenal though you just never know what's going to happen next, but I'll be watching and cheering the team on.
COME ON YOU GUNNERS
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