The Gunners left it late but it was totally worth it, as Danny Welbeck returned to the first XI with a bang, as he netted a 95th minute winner to complete Arsenal’s comeback over Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium.
Jamie Vardy’s first half penalty looked to have set Leicester on their way to an incredible achievement of beating Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal, and emerging as title favourites, but Theo Walcott and Welbeck had different ideas, as they both shook the back of the net in the second half, gifting the Gunners with a much needed 2-1 win.
What can we learn from Sunday’s title clash over Leicester City?
Arsenal didn't give up
The north London side certainly didn’t look like they’d settle for a draw towards the end of the game. They wouldn’t stop attacking Leicester until the game was over, and it definitely paid off after winning the game in the 95th minute.
It was a must win game for Arsenal on Sunday, with Leicester surprisingly running away with the Premier League title at this stage. The Gunners threw a spanner in the works for the visitors, after halting their title chances on Sunday, and are the reason for only Leicester’s third defeat of the season, already beating them earlier on in the season 5-2 at the King Power Stadium.
The Gunners remain in the title race
Arsenal’s title hopes looked as if they were slipping away once again after a poor run of form, but hope was pumped back into the north London fans after their much-needed win over Leicester.
The Foxes continue to sit on top of the Premier League with 53 points, with the Gunners just behind on 51 points, and Tottenham sandwiched in between, also on 51 points but just ahead of their north London rivals on goal difference. Manchester City trail Leicester, Tottenham and Arsenal on 47 points, after a couple of sucker punch defeats at home previously to Leicester and Tottenham themselves.
Points sealed despite below par performance
Arsenal’s performance itself wasn’t great, and all teams go through that, but utter determination and fight ensures some teams still come away with the full three points.
This is, usually champions material, they play bad but still grind out a performance worthy of a win, and it’s those points that make the league title possible at the end of the season.
Another big game, another big result
A couple of seasons ago, Arsenal were getting heavily beaten pretty much every time they took on a top four side, and respectively ended up costing them a chance at the title season after season, however, the team has majorly improved and now they look favourites to beat every ‘big’ team they face.
They haven’t lost to any of the teams in the top four at the moment, with Manchester City and Tottenham still to play away from home, but the Gunners should go into that game with the correct mindset and attitude, and as long as they don’t make any silly mistakes, should come away with six points out of six, because they’re perfectly capable of doing so.
Key performers
Sunday’s game was a complete team effort from Arsenal, they all had to play their part after it seemed like it just wasn’t going to be their day. They stuck with it, didn’t give up, and each and every player deserves credit for that, because realistically, there’s far too much money and fame in the game these days for the players to even care about the result, but they showed today that they did care, and they were rewarded for their efforts.