Read David Hytner’s report from the Emirates Stadium:
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Arsenal blew Claude Puel's side away with a magnificent second-half performance
Updated
Mon 22 Oct 2018 17.04 EDT
First published on Mon 22 Oct 2018 14.04 EDT
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Héctor Bellerín talks post-match. “It has been a difficult game, they’ve put us in some trouble, but we stood up. In the second half when the football started flowing we were finding a bit more space. Leicester are a team who press on the front foot and have a lot of pace in the final third. It’s very hard to defend and we knew we were going to have those problems to deal with. Once we had the ball more and they were probably feeling a bit more tired, we could find more space and play our football better. What is important is to get a good reaction. We know if we play the football we can we’re going to have the chances.”
Those Arsenal goals were stunning. Talking of slick team moves:
That victory pushes Arsenal up into fourth, above Tottenham Hotspur. It is the first time they have won 10 consecutive matches in all competitions for since October 2007, when they went on a 12-game winning run. Leicester stay 11th after back-to-back league defeats for the second time this term.
Full-time: Arsenal 3-1 Leicester City
It’s 10 straight wins for Unai Emery. After an unconvincing start, Arsenal turn on the style, with a couple of vintage goals helping them to what was, in the end, a straightforward victory. Mesut Özil was quite magnificent in the second half, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring two goals off the bench.
90 min: There will be three added minutes.
90 min: Leicester move upfield on the attack. Ghezzal drifts inside before letting fly, but his left-footed effort is painfully wayward. That sums up Leicester’s second half.
87 min: Jamie Vardy has gone down the tunnel, jogging off the pitch with a little limp after a brief conversation with Claude Puel. Leicester have used all of their substitutes but seem pretty happy to let the striker head to the dressing room.
86 min: Leicester have gone to pieces. Arsenal are poking fun at them, Iwobi nutmegging his way upfield and Aubameyang beaming with joy.
84 min: Lacazette should score, but cannot convert Iwobi’s teasing ball into the box. The Frenchman bites his tongue in frustration, but Arsenal are already in party-mode. They’re having fun.
82 min: Aubameyang tries to tee up Ramsey, but Leicester clear their lines. But it comes straight back at the them. They just cannot live with Arsenal at the moment. The hosts are irrepressible.
80 min: Özil is withdrawn to a standing ovation. He leaves the field a very happy man. He surely will not polarise opinion tonight. Aaron Ramsey is on, with Arsenal well and truly in cruise control.
78 min: Schmeichel somehow denies Lacazette! Iwobi and Özil work it nicely down the left, with the latter laying a low ball on a plate for the Frenchman. But Schmeichel instinctively keeps it out. Arsenal are totally running this game.
76 min: Want second-half possession stats? Arsenal 81%.
75 min: Lucas Torreira is rolling around on the floor, hurt by a late challenge from Marc Albrighton, who has already been booked. Arsenal have been readying Aaron Ramsey for a little while.
74 min: Shinji Okazaki replaces James Maddison.
73 min: Olé! Olé! That’s the sound as Arsenal pass the ball around for fun. They are really enjoying themselves out there now.
70 min: Maguire tries to find Maddison, but just overhits the pass. Leicester have been reduced to spectator roles this half. Arsenal have been truly untouchable, with Mesut Özil so classy on the ball. His assist for Aubameyang a moment ago was daringly delightful.
69 min: Bellerin is tearing it up down the right flank. Running on to a loose Amartey pass, he almost plays in Lacazette for what would have been a very easy fourth. Leicester make another change, with Ghezzal introduced in place of Ricardo Pereira.
GOAL! Arsenal 3-1 Leicester (Aubameyang, 66)
What a wonderful goal this is! Arsenal turn on the style, with an irresistible sweeping move upfield rounded off by the substitute. Hector Bellerin and Mesut Özil are again involved, but fellow sub Mattéo Guendouzi was at the heart of it, doing superbly on halfway to get things start. Arsenal have blown Leicester away in a couple of rip-roaring minutes. That was a gorgeous team goal.
64 min: Mesut Özil was dreadful for 44 minutes, but has been magnificent since. A couple of yellow cards for Leicester to compound a miserable few minutes too, with Pereira and Albrighton going into the book.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Leicester (Aubameyang, 63)
How about that for an impact? Mesut Özil plays a sumptuous ball through to Hector Bellerin, who had ghosted inside Ben Chilwell, and the full-back’s low cross is swept home by the substitute.
60 min: A double change for Arsenal: Henrikh Mkhitaryan is replaced by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mattéo Guendouzi is on for Stephan Lichtsteiner. Claude Puel also tweaks personnel, with Marc Albrighton on in place of Iheanacho. A replay of that Ndidi effort shows how Leno tried and failed to punch the ball clear, with the Leicester midfielder beating him to it but heading against the bar.
58 min: Ndidi’s rattles the crossbar! A fierce corner by Maddison is met by the Leicester midfielder, who powers a crashing header at goal. It cannons off the bar and just away from a lurking Maguire. Arsenal come away unscathed. Ndidi, though, is still trying to work out how he has not scored.
57 min: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is among the Arsenal substitutes stretching down by the dugout. Anyway, Leicester win a corner ...
55 min: Mendy makes a hash of his clearance, gifting Arsenal a throw-in just inside the Leicester half and another platform from which to attack. It really is all Arsenal. Leicester will not be able to survive another 40 minutes of this.
53 min: It’s one-way traffic now. Arsenal are pouring forward, with Leicester camped in their own half. Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have both come to the fore at the start of this second half. Down on the touchline, Claude Puel wants the old Leicester back, the Leicester that had Arsenal running ragged.
51 min: Arsenal have made a much better start to this half. They’re shifting through the gears in a bid to poke their noses in front.
50 min: Henrikh Mkhitaryan fires just wide! It was a glorious chance, all of Leicester’s own doing. A sloppy Mendy backpass, meant for Schmeichel, is seized on by Lacazette who dinks the ball into the box but the Armenian slices his effort on goal. Leicester get away with it.
49 min: Iwobi flashes a cross towards the back post in search of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, before Vardy clatters into Özil. Arsenal win a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Xhaka will deliver ...
48 min: Lichtsteiner looks to pick out Iwobi but instead hands possession straight back to Leicester. Arsenal are seeing plenty of the ball, with the visitors being made to merely soak it up for the time being.
46 min: Pereira blocks Lichtsteiner seconds into the second half, allowing Arsenal to control the tempo. They’ll be desperate to pick up from where they left off.
A quick stat, courtesy of Opta: Mesut Özil is now the highest scoring German player in Premier League history (30 goals).
Some half-time emails, then. “Is it just me or did Arsenal have the urgency of a team who feared a half-time bollocking after conceding the goal?” asks Ben Simmons. “And when was the last time we saw that?” Colum adds: “Do you think there has been much of a change in Arsenal’s style under Emery? Tonight’s shape and style is Wenger-like, with bringing ball-and-team forward in neat passes, overlapping fullbacks and wobbly defending.”
Half-time: Arsenal 1-1 Leicester City
An entertaining first 45 minutes, with Mesut Özil, captaining Arsenal this evening, equalising on the brink of the interval. An exquisite finish, but until then Arsenal had rarely threatened. Leicester had dominated, with England trio James Maddison, Ben Chilwell and Harry Maguire particularly influential. Claude Puel’s side should of had a penalty too, given Rob Holding practically punched the ball up into the air, but the referee was unmoved. If the second half’s as good as the first, we’re in for a treat.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-1 Leicester (Özil, 45)
It’s a beautiful finish. The Germany midfielder starts and finishes a slick Arsenal move at the end of a difficult half. He feeds Bellerin out on the right, before meeting the defender’s low cross. He runs on to it, effortlessly guiding the ball into the bottom corner with his next touch. Just like that, Unai Emery’s side are level.
42 min: A nervy few minutes for Leicester, with Amartey swiping the ball away from danger, with Lacazette lurking. Puel is frantically telling his players to regroup and pick up their respective men. They suddenly look like a team that needs half-time.
41 min: Leicester ride their luck a little, as Xhaka’s corner, via Holding, drops in the six-yard box, but Ndidi hacks clear. Arsenal are finishing this half much better than they started it. And now Iwobi wins another corner ...
39 min: Xhaka shoots wide! Maddison had fouled Torreira, and Arsenal won a free-kick 25 yards from goal. Arsenal hounded the referee, arguing the Leicester midfielder should be booked but nothing’s doing. Other than the last couple of minutes, Leicester have totally dictated this game.
37 min: Mkhitaryan gifts the ball to Maddison, but the Leicester playmaker has a rare off-moment. Arsenal are enjoying plenty of possession, but can they do anything with it? Leicester have got plenty of blue shirts behind the ball.
36 min: Arsenal clear the free-kick, after making an initial mess of it. Iwobi nutmegs Pereira as he turns on the style, galloping down the left wing before the hosts push forward down the opposite flank. Lacazette wins a corner, but Leicester take the sting out of Xhaka’s cross. Arsenal are trying to up the ante, at least.
35 min: Iwobi almost latches on to a high ball straight over the top of Leicester’s defence, but Schmeichel rushes out to meet it. And now Xhaka is booked for a crunching, ankle-biting challenge on James Maddison. He will doubtless look for Maguire once more.
33 min: Xhaka hits it – but Schmeichel tips over! It was probably just heading over, but the Leicester goalkeeper makes doubly sure. Arsenal flight the ball back in, but Mustafi’s header drops straight into Schmeichel’s hands. Emery looks a little concerned down in the dugout. Leicester have been brilliant.
