Second half goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez earned a much-improved Leicester City a deserved win over Arsenal at the King Power Stadium on Wednesday.
The hosts took the lead early on through former Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho and should have extended their lead heading into the half time break after working Petr Čech hard in the Arsenal goal.
Full-Time: Leicester City 3️⃣-1️⃣ Arsenal
The Foxes secure a first Premier League win over Arsenal since 1994 thanks to strikes from Iheanacho, Vardy and Mahrez. YES!#LeiArs pic.twitter.com/0p3VBIZnXW
— Leicester City (@LCFC) May 9, 2018
Former Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the equaliser with his second bite of the cherry just before the hour mark. However, Leicester replied with less than 15 minutes to play when Vardy converted his penalty after Demarai Gray was fouled by Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the box.
At the end of the second half, Riyad Mahrez shaped the ball onto his right foot, dummied inside and finished beautifully to seal all three points for Leicester.
I feel like I’ve seen Vardy score a penalty against us about 20 times.
— Paddy (@VieiraPaddy) May 9, 2018
Arsenal showed brief glimpses of danger in the opening stages, but could not create any chances as Leicester looked lazy in defence.
The Foxes sprung to life on 12 minutes when Adrien Silva played in Jamie Vardy, who replicated his famous runs in-behind of years gone by and produced a good save from Petr Čech.
From the resulting corner, Leicester took the lead when Fousseni Diabaté knocked a header down to Iheanacho, who let the ball run across his body and smashed home from close range.
Things very quickly turned from bad to worse for Leicester as Konstantinos Mavrapanos saw red for bringing down Kelechi Iheanacho, who was clean through on goal with no other defenders to beat.
Due to the red card, Arsenal sacrificed Danny Welbeck - who was replaced by Skhodran Mustafi between good chances for Harry Maguire and Kelechi Iheanacho.
The latter was particularly impressive having stepped in to replace the injured Shinji Okazaki. He showed great energy, enthusiasm and confidence in an impressive display, particularly in the early stages of the game.
How this is only 1-0 I have no idea. Back four getting no protection whatsoever. Cech working overtime
— Charles Watts (@charles_watts) May 9, 2018
Arsenal had a rare chance to equalise ten minutes before the break, when Leicester goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović made a good save down to his right to deny Henrikh Mkhitaryan, before stopping Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's rebound. Arsenal showed another brief glimpse of a threat despite only having ten men.
Leicester closed the half with good momentum going forward and would have been disappointed not to add to their tally before the half time whistle. The Foxes had Petr Čech working very hard throughout the first half.
Iheanacho created a glorious chance to extend their lead in stoppage time in the first half, when he won the ball in midfield and has a fantastic chance to play through Vardy. However, the Nigerian youngster tried an audacious effort from 45 yards and his reaction showed that he instantly regretted his decision.
What a magnificent half from #LCFC.
Quicker, faster, sharper than Arsenal.
Only the one goal, but could could have had at least three were it not for some excellent saves from Cech.
— James Sharpe (@TheSharpeEnd) May 9, 2018
The Gunners were lucky not to go 2-0 down just three minutes into the second half when Vardy played in Diabaté, but Mustafi recovered to clear the youngster's effort off the line.
Arsenal drew themselves level shortly afterwards as Aubameyang produced a good save from Jakupović but turned the ball in from close range to salvage an equaliser for the visitors.
The goal was the Gabon international's 22nd goal of the season across all competitions and has now started to justify his hefty price tag.
Arsenal could have gone on to score a winner when Sead Kolašinac played a raking pass to Mkhitaryan, but the Armenian fired his effort over the crossbar.
Wenger's men slowly built momentum through the second half, with some promising attacking moves, but could not create too many strong chances as they desperately searched for a winner.
The game turned on its head once again soon after, when Mkhitaryan was adjudged to have fouled Demarai Gray in the box and referee Graham Scott did not hesitate in pointing to the spot.
England striker Jamie Vardy stepped up to calmly stroke the ball into the top left corner and restore the Foxes' lead.
Leicester were seeing the game out in style, when Riyad Mahrez sent Calum Chambers for a burger as he turned inside and fired home to ensure a much needed win after a week of speculation around Claude Puel's future.
The Foxes have picked up their first victory against Arsenal in 23 attempts and will now travel to Wembley on Sunday as they take on Tottenham Hotspur. Meanwhile, Arsenal will travel to Yorkshire as they face Huddersfield Town.
Tonight’s starting XI: Jakupović, Simpson, Morgan (c), Maguire, Fuchs, Choudhury, Silva, Mahrez, Diabaté, Iheanacho, Vardy.
Subs: Hamer, Benalouane, Dragović, Iborra, Barnes, Gray, Thomas. #LeiArs pic.twitter.com/nkf638uqNE
— Leicester City (@LCFC) May 9, 2018
- 90Min