Full Time: Arsenal 4-3 Leicester City
The Premier League is back and how! We were treated to an excellent contest in the curtain raiser between Arsenal and Leicester City, as the North Londoners edged out the 2015/16 champions by a scoreline of 4-3, courtesy of two late goals.
It was a dream start for the Gunners’ record signing Alexandre Lacazette, as he opened the scoring with his second touch, in his debut Premier League game, with a fine header in the 2nd minute only, giving Arsenal the lead. But Leicester pulled it back just three minutes later, through Shinji Okazaki’s effort and went ahead at the half-hour mark through Jamie Vardy, but Danny Welbeck equalised for Arsenal on the cusp of half-time.
Leicester once again went ahead ten minutes into the second period, with that man again, Jamie Vardy nodding the ball into the net. Arsenal upped the ante to get back into the game, but Leicester did well to keep them at bay, until the 83rd minute, when substitute Aaron Ramsey with an excellent strike, before fellow substitute Olivier Giroud headed in from a corner two minutes later to seal three points for his team.
It was in no way a perfect performance from the Gunners and Arsene Wenger wouldn’t exactly be thrilled, but at the end of the day it’s three points that count. Here we take a look at how the Arsenal stars fared on the night:
Arsenal Player Ratings
Petr Cech – 6/10
Was caught out of position for the first goal, couldn’t do a lot about the second and third. A few saves in between, and charged out well on occasions.
Rob Holding – 5/10
A nervy and error-strewn performance from the youngster, unlike in the Community Shield match. Was a liability at the back.
Nacho Monreal – 6/10
Playing in the centre of the 3-man backline, the Spaniard had a mixed outing as he looked solid at times. But he was guilty on a few occasions. Improvised well.
Sead Kolasinac – 7.5/10
Continued to enhance his reputation with another powerful performance. Bombed forward with intent, solid at the back too. Got the assist for Welbeck’s strike. Looks the real deal.
Hector Bellerin – 6/10
Was always looking to get forward, but tried a little too much on occasions. Was caught out of position for the second goal.
Mohamed Elneny – 6/10
Started off with the pacey cross for Lacazette to head home. Did his job well without having a major impact on the proceedings.
Granit Xhaka – 6/10
Guilty for two goals but redeemed himself with the assits for the third and fourth goals. Generally poor though.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6.5/10
Solid in his defensive duties and got forward well too. But a lot of speculative efforts on goal, which he needs to cut down.
Mesut Ozil – 5/10
A few nice touches aside, there was nothing from the German as he went missing for long phases of the game.
Danny Welbeck – 6.5/10
Had a shot blocked early on, but scored on the verge of half-time. Worked really hard, but never really oozes confidence in front of goal.
Alexandre Lacazette – 6.5/10
Hit the ground running, and got off the mark in the Premier League within 90 seconds. But was relatively quiet thereafter.
Substitutes
Aaron Ramsey – 8/10
Came on for Elneny in the 67th minute. Made immediate impact getting forward, as he headed just wide, before taking his goal brilliantly to bring his team back into the game.
Olivier Giroud – 8/10
Replaced Holding in the 67th minute. Added a target to aim at in the box and pressurised the Foxes’ defence. Headed brilliantly to clinch the game. What a player!
Theo Walcott – N/A
Replaced Welbeck for the final 15 minutes. That’s all you could talk about his performance on the night.