Ranking Arsenal's 5 best players against Leicester City | English Premier League 2021-22
Looking to extend their winning run in the Premier League to five games, Arsenal welcomed Leicester City to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners produced a commanding performance and picked up a 2-0 win, courtesy of a Thomas Partey header and an Alexandre Lacazette penalty.
The victory saw the north Londoners move up to the fourth spot in the Premier League table. They now sit a point ahead of fifth-placed Manchester United, but have three games in hand.
It took the Gunners only eight minutes to draw a save out of Kasper Schmeichel. Martin Odegaard effortlessly found Gabriel Martinelli inside the box, with the latter having a decent go at goal.
The linesman eventually raised the offside flag, but neither party knew about it beforehand. Three minutes later, Partey put the hosts ahead from a Martinelli corner with no offside flag in sight.
The former Atletico Madrid man beat Schmeichel again with a side-footed effort in the 18th minute, but was unluckily denied by the crossbar. In the 36th minute, Harvey Barnes went for the Gunners’ goal with a brilliant header, but a fully stretched Aaron Ramsdale kept the midfielder's effort out.
Arsenal continued their dominance in the second half and ultimately doubled their advantage a minute before the hour mark. Caglar Soyuncu blocked Partey's header with his outstretched arm. Upon reviewing, VAR asked the on-field referee to check the incident on the on-pitch monitor post which the latter made the final ruling. Lacazette stepped up to take the kick and comfortably found the top corner.
Leicester looked heavily demoralized after the penalty and lost their footing. The Gunners did not push too hard for more goals and decided to preserve their energy in anticipation of Wednesday’s clash against Liverpool.
Here are five Arsenal players who delivered in their essential win over Leicester City on Sunday:
#5 Ben White
The Gunners’ dependable defender-in-chief Ben White produced an impressive performance against Leicester City on Sunday.
He was poised on the ball, was clever with his distribution, and made an outstanding first-half tackle to keep his side's lead intact.
If Southgate doesn’t call Ben White to the National Team, football has lost. Kilometers and kilometers better than Harry Maguire. https://t.co/1BdhCOfJh2
In the 26th minute, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall forced Ramsdale to parry the ball into the penalty area. James Maddison picked it up and was just about to pull the trigger when White dispossessed him.
White made three clearances and interceptions, won three of his four duels and had a passing accuracy of 93 percent.
A crucial defensive action by one of the Londoner’s most-improved players this season.
#4 Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal skipper Alexandre Lacazette ended his six-match goal drought with a confident second-half penalty. The Frenchman, who had not scored in 2022, opted for a stuttering run-up to the ball before dispatching a top-corner scorcher.
Schmeichel had no chance of getting to that.
Alexandre Lacazette has scored his 200th club career goal (129 Lyon, 71 Arsenal)
⚽️ Alexandre Lacazette has scored his 200th club career goal (129 Lyon, 71 Arsenal)
His penalty ended a 9-game run without scoring, the joint-longest of his Arsenal career https://t.co/Lf8gDDHZyr
The France international also impressed with his hold-up play. The 30-year-old was always in the thick of things when the Gunners pushed for more goals.
A solid performance from the 30-year-old forward, who has been linked (as per Sky Sports) with a move back to Lyon this summer.