It may have been just the sixth matchday of the English Premier League’s 2024-25 season but already it was another must win game for Arsenal.
On paper, it was simple. Arsenal were at home against Leicester City, one of the newly promoted sides who were winless in their previous five matches. It should have been an easy, comfortable win for the Gunners, given they had come through their week from hell—Tottenham, Atalanta, and Manchester City away in eight days—admirably, and then cruised past Bolton Wanderers at the Emirates in the Carabao Cup with seven academy youngsters.
However, the Premier League is rarely that simple … or easy. There had been fears during the week Arsenal’s players might be complacent for this relatively “easier” fixture, and perhaps Manchester City’s draw away at Newcastle United earlier in the day added to their ease of mind. Or maybe, as does happen, it increased the pressure upon them, for this was their chance to go level on points with the four-time champions.
Mikel Arteta was certainly not taking any chances, and named his strongest possible starting eleven—the same team which started against City away at the Etihad last Sunday.
The Line-Ups
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Partey, Saka, Martinelli, Trossard, Havertz
Bench: Neto, Nichols, Kacurri, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Sterling, Jesus
Leicester: Hermansen, Justin, Faes, Okoli, Kristiansen, Skipp, Winks, Buonanotte, Ndidi, Mavididi, Vardy
Bench: Ward, Pereira, Coady, Choudhury, Fatawu, El Khannouss, Cordova-Reid, Ayew, Édouard
Arsenal survive almighty scare to secure late win against Leicester City
Arsenal dominated proceedings from kick-off, pinning Leicester back, keeping the lion’s share of the ball, and creating chance after chance.
And the pressure told in the 19th minute, when Bukayo Saka picked out Jurrien Timber on the right, and the Dutch defender’s low delivery into the box found its way through Leicester’s defense to Gabriel Martinelli, who slotted it into the bottom corner for his first Arsenal goal in six months.
In first-half injury time, Martinelli went from scorer to provider, floating into the visitors’ box to slide it through to Leandro Trossard, who made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
The second half proved to be the sort of banana peel on which Arsenal have slipped often in recent history, and exactly what had their supporters worried about this match.
James Justin handed Leicester their lifeline into the game—his glancing header from an innocuous free-kick deflected off Kai Havertz past David Raya in the 47th minute. Sixteen minutes later—during which the Gunners had tried over and again to restore their two-goal cushion only to be kept out by the brilliant Hermansen—Justin struck again to level things off. Wilfred Ndidi’s cross was more exploratory than threatening but Justin hit it superbly on the volley to leave Raya with no chance.
However, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal just simply never know when to quit. They have won matches in seasons past through late goals against Bournemouth, Manchester United, and Luton Town, to name some examples, and they did it here once more against Leicester City.
The much-talked about threat from corners Arsenal present came to their rescue again, in the 93rd minute. Saka’s whipped delivery found Trossard at the back post, and the Belgian’s side-footed finish deflected off Ndidi to give the Gunners back their lead. And in the 98th minute, Arsenal secured the win with Havertz’s third league goal of the season. Gabriel Jesus’ shot was parried away by Hermansen, only for Justin to inadvertently lay it off for Havertz.
Reaction to the Result
Mikel Arteta was proud and delighted with his team’s character and attitude, speaking after the match:
“You can start to feel sorry for yourself – what else do I have to do to win? No, we have to do more things, because what we have done is not enough. To have that mentality, purpose and perseverance is really impressive, because it’s easy to say here but very difficult to do it out there.
“I think our supporters, the crowd, were exceptional at that, creating that atmosphere of belief, energy and not an average fear of nerve or insecurity. So thank you so much because they helped the team a lot to get the points.
“I’m really happy, really pleased with the performance, the attitude of the team and the way we played and dominated the game.
“I’m especially happy with the way the team reacted when it got very difficult, with a really unexpected two goals conceded which put the game at stake. We - the crowd included - showed unbelievable emotional control, a lot of belief and clarity into what we are continuously doing and a lot of courage at the end to find a way to win it.”
After the Final Whistle
Arsenal have two more matches to play before the international break, both at the Emirates—Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on 1st October, and Southampton in the Premier League on the 5th. They will hope to win both matches, and head into the break with some momentum because they have a tough run of fixtures to contend with afterwards.