Arsenal outplayed Leicester and deserved to win. by KM
Super Sunday they call it on Skysports. And they were correct this time. We faced leaders Leicester knowing that nothing but a win would realistically save our chances of clinching the title for the first time in 12 years.
We started the game well and we dominated the first 20 minutes missing some chances, while Leicester had a chance through Vardy which Cech saved well. At the end of the half, Mesut was ran over by Morgan, which the ref decided to walk over and then that cheat Vardy tricked the ref to give them a penalty.
Here’s where i take a break to say that either refs in England just want Tottenham and Leicester to fight for this title or they are just not competent. Those two penalties could’ve decided the fate of the title and the decisions were awful.
In the second half another cheat called Mahrez tried to pull another one on Monreal, but the ref this time felt like it was too much and walked by, when clearly Mahrez should’ve gotten a booking.
Regardless, minutes later Leicester went down to 10 and for once the ref did the right thing. It was all us afterwards. We squandered quite a few chances which could’ve cost us dearly, but Giroud layed a nice ball to Theo and he finished it off to go level.
With 20 minutes to go, Alexis, Ramsey and Per all had good chances to score, but with the 4 minutes of added time over, Nacho won a free kick and I had a feeling we’d score it. It just felt fair, and Mesut put an excellent cross in and the little bit forgotten figure of Danny Welbeck rose to the occasion to spark one fairy-tale – and it wasn’t Leicesters!
It is difficult to draw any conclusions, but I liked the way we played. We had energy and the fresh faces gave us the extra edge. The bench won us this game as both our reserve strikers came on and scored. We also completely dismantled the long ball runs of Vardy and weren’t in any real trouble hadn’t the ref gifted them a penalty.
There are some concerns though as Koscielny was replaced injured. He will be a massive miss and we we’ll be facing the likes of Barcelona very soon. The reality is that even after this win, we still have a lot to do and we continue to struggle up front.
Hopefully the return of Welbeck and those goals he and Theo scored will be a warning for our strikers. Another concern is the form of Alexis, who doesn’t look very confident and he is so important if we are to challenge.
Our away trips until the end are, well the worst they could be really, featuring – United, Spurs, West Ham, Everton, Sunderland and Man City… After the FA cup next weekend it’s Barcelona in the Champions league and Man Utd away. The games don’t get much bigger than that.
For now, it’s time for a good rest. We rescued our chances, but we still have a lot to play for. Until then, have a nice week!
Konstantin