ARSENAL ARE TRUE BELIEVERS
Arteta’s team are back on track after Martinelli’s strike
HEAD down and with purposeful stride, Mikel Arteta marched off the pitch as more than 3,000 jubilant Arsenal fans sang his name. One more goal, one more win, one step closer to a prize that has eluded them for nearly two decades.
The Gunners kept their nerve to claim their 10th away win of the campaign thanks to Gabriel Martinelli’s goal right at the start of the second half.
No wonder Arteta was grinning broadly as he applauded the 3,284strong contingent and hugged everyone in sight as he headed for the tunnel.
The Spaniard had been like a cat on hot bricks throughout, frequently straying on to the pitch and berating the fourth official.
But his players kept their nerve, Martin Odegaard, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard catching the eye.
‘These wins were really important as they create more belief among the players, around our club and externally,’ said Arteta. ‘But I had full faith the players could do it.
‘It was about coming back to some basics and details that took games away from us. In the last two games we did those things much better.
‘We dominated but lacked the final pass to score more and create bigger chances, but defensively we were incredible.
‘To restrict Leicester to one shot off target at home is extremely difficult and the players did really well.’
It could have been even better for Arsenal but for two contentious VAR calls. Trossard’s first-half strike was chalked off for an apparent foul on goalkeeper Danny Ward by Ben White, before Harry Souttar’s clumsy shove on Bukayo Saka in the box went unpunished.
Arteta added: ‘I don’t want to talk about those situations too much. We are extremely happy. We got over the disallowed goal which was difficult to take and stayed really focused and determined.’
Leicester suffered badly in attack without James Maddison, who has knee trouble, though the club said he was missing due to illness, and never tested Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. The Foxes remain in relegation trouble and have a huge game at Southampton next weekend.
‘We were not quick enough or technically fast enough when we had opportunities,’ said Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers.
‘We were disappointed with the goal. We were in a good position to build but we got rid of it, Martinelli scored and that was the defining moment of the game.
‘We stayed in the game throughout but they’re top for a reason and they showed that.’
Zinchenko was handed the captaincy by regular skipper Odegaard as a mark of respect on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zinchenko’s homeland.
And energised by their late victory at Aston Villa last weekend, the visitors began positively. Uncertain defending from the home side presented Odegaard with a difficult chance in the first minute which he volleyed over. Zinchenko was finding space throughout the first half and he sent Trossard through in the 12th minute, forcing Wout Faes to make a timely block.
Moments later, Jorginho put Saka clear with an excellent pass from deep, taking Victor Kristiansen out of the game. This time Souttar came to Leicester’s rescue with a covering challenge.
Arsenal thought they had taken the lead in the 26th minute when Ward’s punch at a corner fell to Granit Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder set up Trossard, who was given too much space on the edge of the box and found the top corner brilliantly.
Yet their joy was curtailed when VAR Michael Salisbury called referee Craig Pawson to the monitor. Pawson agreed that White had impeded Ward unfairly at the corner by grabbing his forearm and the goal was ruled out.
Though Arsenal were in control, Leicester might have punished them on the break with better decisionmaking. Kelechi Iheanacho had the ball in the net but was offside and Kiernan DewsburyHall delayed his pass when the home side were three-on-two after an Arsenal corner.
At the other end, Saka was frustrated not to win a penalty for Souttar’s clumsy challenge and Martinelli fired over from a tight angle to round off a clever move involving Zinchenko, Saka and Odegaard. All Arsenal’s irritation vanished in the first minute of the
second half though when they finally surged in front.
Trossard played a clever pass through the legs of Souttar and Martinelli provided a finish to match, though there was an immediate cost. The Brazilian took a whack on the knee from Wilfred Ndidi as he tried to block the shot, but was able to continue.
Arsenal then had two hairy moments, first when Trossard gave the ball away to Harvey Barnes and then when Tete — who had struggled to find the pace of the game — was inches away from turning in Barnes’ cross.
Yet with Zinchenko, Odegaard and Jorginho pulling the strings, Arsenal were always dangerous.
Saka had the ball in the net from Martinelli’s cut-back but the Brazilian was offside and Trossard won a free-kick close to the ‘D’ which Odegaard drilled into the wall. Moments earlier, Ward looked uncertain in parrying Zinchenko’s angled effort. Arteta brought off Trossard for Eddie Nketiah with 20 minutes to go and by then Jamie Vardy was on for Leicester.
The home side were still in the game and Dewsbury-Hall was just off target from 20 yards. Though he and Barnes found many promising positions, they lacked quality at the decisive moments and it cost Leicester in the end.
Arteta, meanwhile, was already looking ahead. ‘On to the next one — Everton,’ he said. His team have certainly found their stride again.