Leicester City 1-3 Arsenal: Player ratings as Gunners fight back to secure an emphatic victory
Arsenal fought back from a goal down to beat Leicester City 3-1 at the King Power Stadium and blow open the top-four race in the Premier League.
David Luiz, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe all scored in quick succession in either half as Leicester City's early lead, courtesy of Youri Tielemans's opener, was wiped out.
Without a win at this stadium in their last three visits, the Gunners were supposedly in for another long afternoon when the Belgian broke the deadlock in the sixth minute.
But Mikel Arteta's side slowly grew into the match and scored twice before the break through Luiz's header and Lacazette's penalty. Pepe rounded off a brilliant counter to kill the tie.
The defeat leaves Leicester's top-four hopes in the balance whereas the Gunners remain ninth. Here are the player ratings for Arsenal:
Bernd Leno - 7/10
Despite the victory, it was a tough outing for the German, who almost conceded another goal shortly after Tielemans's opener. He struggled with the ball at his feet too, and saving long-range efforts clearly isn't his forte.
Cedric Soares - 7/10
His passes were way off at the start when Leicester were in control, but Soares found his feet and even showed good commitment in the attack.
David Luiz - 8/10
The defender was an absolute rock, throwing himself in front of everything and giving Jamie Vardy very little breathing room. He made two interceptions, won both his aerial duels, and even headed the Gunners in front with a daring header. Why can't he do this more often?
Pablo Mari - 7/10
A solid all-round display from the Spaniard as he used his strength to clamp down on Vardy and showed his excellent skills on the ball too.
Kieran Tierney - 7/10
He'd be disappointed with himself for not tracking Tielemans for the opener but from an attacking standpoint, Tierney made some good overlapping runs to link up with Willian.
Mohamed Elneny - 6/10
His passes were accurate but nothing substantial came off them. The Egyptian did little to justify his start.
Granit Xhaka - 6/10
The Swiss international was responsible for Tielemans's goal as he gave away possession cheaply and then lacked the pace to get back up to cover him. Going forward in the match though, Xhaka made quite a few tackles, and showed his leadership skills to lift his side up.
Nicolas Pepe - 8/10
An excellent performance from Pepe as he ran rings around Leicester's defense with relentless forays and brilliant link-up play in attacking areas. The Frenchman won a penalty for Lacazette and even scored early on in the second-half. But his impact waned thereafter.
Emile Smith Rowe - N/A
He started off brightly, dropping into pockets of space and giving Leicester something to worry about, but an unfortunate injury in the 42nd minute ended his game prematurely.
Willian - 8/10
Where was this Willian all this time? The Brazilian was at his attacking best today, making two assists, while also being key in the build up to the second goal. He repaid Arteta's faith today and the manager will be hoping he can keep up this form in the coming games too.
Alexandre Lacazette - 7/10
The striker made no mistake from the spot, driving the ball home for his 14th goal of the season, and was a solid focal point in the attack for Arsenal.
Substitutes
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 6/10
It was too late for him to make any impact in the match but nevertheless managed one effort on target.
Martin Odegaard - 7/10
He was involved in the third goal by getting the ball quickly to Willian and looked dangerous on the counters too.
Thomas Partey - 7/10
He had little time to do anything but Partey's return to the fold is a welcome sight for Arsenal.