Thanks for reading and goodbye: here’s the match report from Stuart James
Jamie Vardy scored twice as Leicester City dented Arsenal’s top-four hopes with a convincing 3-0 win at the King Power Stadium
Updated
Sun 28 Apr 2019 09.24 EDT
First published on Sun 28 Apr 2019 06.00 EDT
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Full-time: Leicester City 3-0 Arsenal
Unai Emery’s side were blown away from the first whistle. They were never a match for a Leicester side transformed under Brendan Rodgers. Jamie Vardy scored twice as Leicester breezed beyond 10-man Arsenal, but Youri Tielemans – who opened the scoring – and James Maddison were magnificent in midfield.
GOAL! Leicester City 3-0 Arsenal (Vardy, 90+4)
Pereira skates into the box, sliding the ball across goal, on a plate for Vardy to complete the job. A fine goal.
90+3 min: Harvey Barnes almost makes it three! Leicester worked it really well, with Vardy slipping in the forward but he could not put the icing on the cake. Leicester countered from the outside of their own box, with Maddison playing in Vardy, who jinked away from the substitute Guendouzi. Barnes bust a guto give Vardy an option and soon bore down on goal, before Leno saved with his legs.
90+2 min: Another corner for Arsenal, but the game’s over.
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
87 min: Arsenal win a free-kick on the byline. Xhaka whips it in but Jonny Evans sends it back from where it came. Harry Maguire thumps away the second delivery with a bruising header.
GOAL! Leicester City 2-0 Arsenal (Vardy, 86)
This is the definition of route one. Jamie Vardy makes sure of the points. Schmeichel punts a huge, straight ball downfield, it takes out Koscielny and Mustafi, and Vardy – of course – gleefully latches on to it; the striker cannot believe his luck. Vardy races through one-on-one with Leno, lofts it over him ... but rattles the crossbar. When it bounces off the woodwork, Vardy smashes in the rebound.
82 min: Arsenal win a corner. Xhaka whipped in a dangerous ball, with Mustafi inadvertently nodding into the path of Nketiah, who was offside before Leicester smuggled the ball out and away. Chilwell clattered Torreira, allowing Arsenal to swing the ball in.
81 min: Albrighton finds Vardy in the box, but he cannot steer it home! Sokratis also got a touch on his strike, which caused Leno a little grief before gathering.
79 min: Eddie Nketiah replaces Lacazette. And Hamza Choudhury is withdrawn for Leicester, with Nampalys Mendy on.
76 min: A nasty clash of heads between Mustafi and Chilwell means a stoppage in play. The Leicester full-back has quite the shiner. No doubt the backroom team are already readying the frozen peas. Respite for Arsenal and in particular Leno.
74 min: Leno makes two spectacular saves! First, diving to his right to deny Ricardo Pereira and then from Harvey Barnes, who had the Arsenal goalkeeper sprawling the other way. Arsenal breathe a sigh of relief. Leicester are certainly trying to add to their tally.
72 min: Tielemans rattles a post! The midfield picks the ball up centrally, roams a couple of yards closer to goal and takes aim. He bends an effort away from Leno but the woodwork prevents Leicester from doubling their lead. Tielemans has been superb.
71 min: Lucas Torreira goes down in the box and Arsenal fans half-heartedly appeal for a penalty. Jonny Evans screened the Uruguay midfielder and nothing more. Good defending. Emery suggests to the fourth official that Evans elbowed Torreira. Wishful thinking.
69 min: Leicester fly forward on the counter – it is four-on-two – but Tielemans cannot pick out Vardy or Chilwell, who had peeled off at the back post. Back come Arsenal, with Chilwell clipping Sokratis on halfway. A replay of that Arsenal corner a moment ago shows the manner in which Sokratis charged at Schmeichel, leading with his boot. It did not look great, that’s for sure.
67 min: Barnes links well with Vardy, who buys a corner out of Sokratis. He and Mustafi have been given the runaround – again. Maddison whips in the ball but Barnes inadvertently handles in the box as he stoops to meet it. Can Arsenal conjure up any kind of response? Torreira goes down the other end and wins a corner.
65 min: Tielemans takes – but the Arsenal wall stands firm.
64 min: Sokratis is booked for a foul on Maddison, 25 yards out. And Michael Oliver gives Unai Emery a stern telling off on the touchline. Maddison, who played that sumptuous ball in for Tielemans, fancies a crack at this free-kick, as does the goalscorer.
GOAL! Leicester City 1-0 Arsenal (Tielemans, 59)
Youri Tielemans glances home a superb Maddison cross. It was a deft header to meet a beautiful ball, zipped into the box at speed, allowing the unmarked Tielemans to nod in. A wonderful goal. “Sign him up” is the inevitable chorus from home supporters.
57 min: Leicester are just beginning to get a little frustrated – they really should have made their one-man advantage pay by now – as Pereira overcooks a routine pass for Albrighton. Nevertheless, back come Leicester, with Maddison picking the ball up centrally.
55 min: A trademark run by Vardy as he nips in at the front post – but cannot convert Albrighton’s cross, with Koscielny poking the ball into the direction of Bernd Leno. Arsenal have kept Lacazette and Aubameyang up as a front two but they seem happy to sit in and soak up wave after wave of Leicester pressure.
52 min: Kolasinac raids forward down the left but has a rush of blood to the head, suddenly driving a poor effort at goal! After a slip, Torreira attempts to keep Arsenal on the move but Leicester get rid. Emery if huffing and puffing on the touchline.
50 min: Tielemans thumps a ball in towards the front post where Vardy is lurking, but Leno rushes out to punch clear. To say this is one-way traffic would be an understatement. Leicester are having it all their own way, picking off Arsenal’s defence.
49 min: Barnes jets down the left, beating Mustafi for pace. He tries to hook an effort goalwards but Leno gathers at the front post.
48 min: Harvey Barnes’s first contribution is to buy a corner out of Sokratis. Maddison swings it in towards Slabhead and co, but Arsenal clear their lines. Arsenal – already – are firmly on the back foot. Barnes then gets some joy up against Mustafi.
47 min: Pereira and Tielemans combine to good effect, with the former doing superbly on the byline. The ball is edged back to just outside the box, where James Maddison attempts to weave his way through. He gets lucky at first, but is eventually crowded.
46 min: A couple of changes at the interval. Leicester seem intent on upping the ante, with Harvey Barnes replacing Wilfred Ndidi. As for Arsenal, on comes Laurent Koscielny in place of Iwobi. Mustafi, who has again looked shaky, shifts along to right-back.
Half-time: Leicester City 0-0 Arsenal
Ten-man Arsenal survive until the interval then, but for how much longer can they repel Leicester? Youri Tielemans, James Maddison and Wilfred Ndidi have ran the show for Brendan Rodgers’s side, while Jamie Vardy has been alert up front. Leicester should be ahead but have nothing to show for their sterile domination – other than some hearty possession statistics. It was an uphill struggle for Arsenal even before Ainsley Maitland-Niles was sent packing after picking up two yellow cards. Food for thought for Unai Emery, who has asked Henrikh Mkhitaryan to fill in at right-back.
45 min: Arsenal clear their lines but Leicester recycle possession. Unai Emery’s side are struggling to stem the flow, as Albrighton almost finds Vardy in the box. There will be two added minutes.
44 min: Maddison has another effort deflected wide for a corner. Arsenal, it is fair to say, are hanging on for half-time.
42 min: Vardy cannons an effort at Leno! The resulting Leicester corner is cleared by Kolasinac and Maguire fouls Lacazette on halfway, allowing Arsenal some respite. Leicester have been unrelenting opponents.
41 min: Maddison zips a clever ball downfield for Vardy, who darts out to that fertile right-back berth that Mkhitaryan is occupying. In fact, Aubameyang ends up darting back to help out.
37 min: If Sokratis looked weary before that sending-off, things look set to get a lot tougher for Arsenal’s defence. Henrikh Mkhitaryan has shuffled to right-back for the time being at least and Leicester continue to quietly and patiently probe. They have dominated possession but have nothing to show for it – yet.
35 min: Ainsley Maitland-Niles is sent off! The Arsenal full-back picks up his second booking of the afternoon for a late, and rather crude, challenge on James Maddison. Things go from bad to worse for Unai Emery, who slings off his jacket in anger. He is incensed.
34 min: Aubameyang slips in Iwobi, but his effort is straight at Schmeichel! That was a huge chance, with the Arsenal winger given time and space to get his shot away. But Iwobi’s effort was tame and it ends up dribbling towards Schmeichel, who collects.