Arsenal players celebrating 3-1 victory against Leicester City at the King Power stadium

Arsenal Tames Resilient Leicester At King Power Stadium

Last updated Feb 28, 2021

Arsenal came from behind to claim an impressive 3-1 win against a resilient Leicester City side to earn all three points at the King Power Stadium.

Leicester were knocked out of the Europa League in midweek and came into the game looking to bounce back, while Arsenal were looking to consolidate it’s Europa League progression with another vital win. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka and Thomas Partey all started on the bench for the gunners.

Arsenal started the game in typical fashion as they gave away an early goal to Leicester. Youri Tielemans put Leicester ahead after 6 minutes with a good finish into the bottom left corner, thanks to some poor Arsenal defending.

Leicester City midfielder Youri Thielemans (8) scores against Arsenal at the King Power stadium

It was a clinical finish from the Belgian, however, the visitors showed character to force their way back into the game.

Willian’s free-kick in the 39th minute found Arsenal defender David Luiz and the brazilian’s flying header beat Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel to levelled the scores 1-1.

Arsenal defender David Luiz scores flying header against Leicester City.

VAR had earlier correctly denied Arsenal a penalty for Wilfred Ndidi’s foul on Pepe just outside the box, but the two were involved again as Pepe’s shot struck Ndidi’s hand in the box, spotted by VAR for a penalty.

Alexandre Lacazette stepped up and scored from the spot just before halftime to give Arsenal the lead going into the second half.

Arsenal forward Alexandre Lacazette celebrates penalty goal against Leicester City

Both sides felt the impact of Thursday’s Europa League games as Emile Smith Rowe, Jonny Evans and Harvey Barnes all went off injured. However, Arsenal opened up a two-goal cushion early in the second half.

Pepe found substitute Martin Odegaard, who passed the ball to Willian on the left. Williams pass into the box then deflected off Tielemans and into the path of the waiting Pepe, who then tapped the ball into the net.

Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe (19) scores third goal during Premier League match against Leicester City.

Pepe has scored four goals in his last seven Premier League starts for Arsenal, while Willian has now made more assists than any other Arsenal player this season with five. Arsenal saw out the game professionally, showing their character to keep out Jamie Vardy and Leicester.

With a busy schedule ahead, Artetea’s rotation seemed to give the gunners a major lift going into this game. The result means Leicester stay third, with Chelsea six points behind but with a game in hand, while Arsenal are up to ninth above Tottenham for a few hours at least.

Leicester will travel to Burnley on Wednesday before going to Brighton on Saturday, while Arsenal face Burnley on Saturday in the Premier League.

Three points on the road!